Picture this horror story. A man suffering from depression decides to die and wades into the bay to wait for the tide to drown him. The water rises, and he begins to lose his balance. His pupils dilate with fear. As his feet touch the bottom for the last time, he turns to stare at a crowd that has gathered on the beach.

Onlookers do nothing. One alarmed person calls 911. When rescuers arrive, they don’t help the man either. Instead, they just watch the man begin to flail, then suffocate, then bob face-down in the water.

Not one person lifts a finger to help: multiple firefighters, policemen, dozens of spectators—not a single human being makes any effort at all. They choose to watch him die.

A dark Hollywood horror film? No. Real-life San Francisco last week.

Last Monday, 52-year-old Raymond Zack walked into San Francisco Bay in order to commit suicide. And San Franciscans watched it happen—for an hour. And did nothing.

When firefighters arrived, they refused to act—even later as the man began to drown. The Coast Guard did nothing because the water was too shallow for its boat. Reporters did nothing because they were too busy getting the story. Hikers, dog walkers, cyclists-turned-spectators did nothing. The police did nothing because it wasn’t their jurisdiction. Other bystanders did nothing because the police wouldn’t let them.

Zack’s horrified, wheelchair-bound stepmother was understandably outraged that she was forced to watch her son die—while “rescue” officials stood idly by.

According to San Francisco Fire Chief Mike D’Orazi, his firefighters did not intervene because budget cuts had deprived his crew of the proper training and cold-water gear. They were “handcuffed by policy” he said. Without the proper certifications, intervention could have opened up the city to lawsuits.

“They said they could not go into the water,” said one witness.

Didn’t have the proper training? When Zack was in water shallow enough for him to stand in? Lacking cold-water gear? Really? In California at the end of May? Raymond Zack was in the water for an hour before he died. How cold could have the water been? And no one even went out to him to talk to him.

Want to hear the revolting resolution? Even after Zack was obviously unconscious—even then—no firefighter, police officer or guardsman went into the water to retrieve his limp body. That task was taken on by a disgusted young woman who probably couldn’t stand the shame of doing nothing any longer. She swam out and pulled Zack in.

Once the body was on shore, then the firefighters sprang into action. Liability wasn’t an issue anymore. By then, the man was already dead.

What a reprehensible story.

Now consider a totally different story out of the animal world—and it should put us to shame. On YouTube you can watch a video of a herd of water buffalo being chased by several lions. (It is one of the most astounding videos I have ever watched.) The lions sprint after a calf and chase it into the water, then begin to pull it out. You can hear the desperate bleating of the terrified calf as it calls for help. Then, to make its situation even more desperate, a crocodile emerges and grabs the calf; a tug-of-war ensues. Eventually the lions pull the trembling calf up on the bank and get ready to put an end to the bleating. Then the unexpected happens.

The other buffalo hear the calf’s calls of distress. They turn, virtually forming ranks, and come to its rescue. They rally, and some of the bigger bulls begin to challenge the pride of lions, the prey putting itself at a huge risk—defying the teeth and claws of one of the world’s most lethal killing machines—to save one of their own. In the showdown that ensues, these buffalo risk their lives for a small member of the herd that could and often does get easily dismissed as dead. But a member of their species was in trouble, and these animals ignored their fear and went to help. Unbelievably, their self-sacrifice against Africa’s most deadly hunters worked. The buffalo managed to drive off the lions one by one. Near the end of the video, you can actually see the calf—which somehow survived the jaws of the crocodile and the claws and teeth of six or so lions—managing to get back on its feet and get away from the water and the lions and back to the herd.

What you could call a natural affection of the buffalo drove them to take incredible risks to save one of their own. These animals exhibited a natural impulse to help one in need.

Back in San Francisco: “We expected to see at some point that there would be a concern for him,” said one witness.

Well yes, you would think that at some point during that entire hour, at least one person out of the 75 on scene would have shown some “concern” for a fellow human being! He was there in the water for all to see. No shark—or crocodile—was attacking him. No lion had him in his teeth.

It is a sad reality, but had a dog been drowning instead of a human being that day in San Francisco, someone would have done something.

Raymond Zack’s death is not about insufficient training or a city saving money and avoiding lawsuits.

The death of Raymond Zack is about a disturbing, shocking, repulsive lack of even natural compassion for human life. It is a condemning sign of how morally bankrupt we have become.

No one cared enough to even try to save him.

This is the second widely-publicized story in recent months where Californians watched and did nothing to help someone in danger. Following the San Francisco Giants’ opening game in Los Angeles, paramedic Bryan Stow was brutally beaten and kicked in the head by two men until he suffered massive brain damage, while a crowd of around 100 people watched on. The assailants simply got into a car and casually drove away.

But San Francisco—despite its proud liberal repute—is becoming known for its callousness.

It was in this city that two years ago a 15-year-old girl was gang-raped multiple times on school property after a homecoming dance. Police say she was violently raped for at least two hours while more than a dozen witnesses saw the assault, but failed to call police despite her cries. Some stopped to watch. Others stopped to take pictures. People came and went. No one cared enough to do anything. Her injuries were so severe that she had to be taken to hospital by helicopter.

But this disinterest is not just a San Francisco or California problem. Who can forget the two paramedics in New York City who refused to help a pregnant mother who collapsed in a coffee shop? Their cold response: “Call 911”—as they ate their bagels and the woman died of a heart attack. Then there were the three big Seattle security guards last year who refused to intervene when three girls brutally beat, punched and stomped another girl. Apparently their employment manual says they are not allowed to get involved in altercations. What a poor excuse not to help someone in distress.

How can a nation lacking so much natural affection ever survive, let alone prosper? The sad answer is it can’t. When human life ceases to have value, when bagels are worth more than babies, and grown men won’t stand up to teenage girls, society can’t be far from social disintegration. When humans have lost the natural affection that even animals exhibit, it means that we are not far from the end.

Oh how America is changing. America was a nation that was founded by people who were willing to sacrifice themselves for others. Throughout its history, people in this nation willingly risked and even sacrificed their lives to save others. Yes, people back then had the same human nature. Yes, they still made errors in judgment. But today something is different. People are so caught up in their own selfishness they ignore those who need them most.

Our nation has never been this callous—but it was prophesied to happen. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3. “But understand this, that in the last days will come perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered …. [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman) … loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good” (verses 1-3, Amplified Bible). The term “last days” refers to human society just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. This is a sign of where we are in Bible prophecy.

Consider the terms Paul uses to describe the way people would be in our time: lovers of self, self-centered, lacking natural affection, callous, inhuman, uncontrolled and fierce. Sadly, you could hardly find better terms to describe society today.

People are steadily degenerating to the point where they are becoming almost totally void of natural affection—the kind of affection that even animals can show toward each other—just as the Apostle Paul said. If you watch the news, if you have not become desensitized, you know it to be true.

This lack of natural affection isn’t just something relegated to the news. This is reality. And someday soon you might be the one needing the help. As Raymond Zack took his last look at those people standing on the beach, one wonders if what he saw justified in his mind, his actions. Did he think: This world is just as cold and horrible as I thought it was?