In Webster’s Dictionary, the word “declension” is as follows: A falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay. It perfectly describes what is happening to the United States right before our eyes. We are literally watching a society decline into the abyss of immorality at a more rapid rate than one could have imagined only a few years ago. In fact, it is happening so fast that it leaves one’s head spinning as we strive to find where the moral fulcrum is located on any given day.
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When one reads some of the history of the Roman Empire they can get somewhat of a glimpse as to where we are headed as a nation. The Roman Empire fell as a direct result of immorality among its citizenry. This immoral frame of mind polluted every aspect of their society which was the most powerful empire in the world at that time. It polluted the home and caused the destruction of the Roman family. Immorality polluted their government and caused it to lose its focus and effectiveness. It polluted the men in their military and caused it to become ineffective and less powerful than before. It weakened their resolve to be the nation and people they had been before. The Roman army is infamous for its cruelty and that was a direct result of the devaluing of human life. Chaos reigned in the Roman social order from the Emperor to the common people. Yes, immorality caused the decay of that great society. Even at that, we learn from history that it took a long period of time for the Roman Empire to actually fall to such levels that it ceased to be an empire. It did not happen quickly in the span of only a few years or decades. But, they are gone and the American people need to examine exactly what happened to them and then they need to recognize the parallels that are present in our country.
The great Grecian Empire is another case in point. It was a totally democratic society with the people having absolute control over the direction of the country. They were totally free and when a people are totally free, they will descend into anarchy and rebellion. If man does not have some constraints upon himself, he will finally destroy himself and the society of which he is a part. The Greek Empire produced some of the greatest minds that have ever existed on planet earth. These people produced some of the most wonderful literature and philosophy that has ever emerged. Societies have always reflected on the teachings of Plato and the writings of Homer as well as others. It was a brilliant society, but it too was corrupted from within. The same immorality which destroyed the Romans also destroyed the Greeks. Today, they are a nation with no empire and very little influence in the world. I’m sure they thought that a general declension of their nation would never happen to them, but it did. Anytime a person, a people or a nation slides down the slippery slope into immorality, it dooms itself to destruction. We could also look at the Egyptian Empire and come to the same conclusions concerning the reason for their fall. The British Empire is a more modern example of how a once powerful nation can so radically decline because of immorality within. The roadways of history are strewn with the debris of many nations which have ceased to exist as powerful entities simply because of the inward decay of immorality.
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No nation of history was any worse at the point of immorality than is the United States. We might as well face that fact. What makes this country think that they face any different future than others who have traveled our present path? We should be taking good lessons from history and correcting some of the deadly influences which destroyed others. But, it seems that such a course will not be taken. It seems that, with our eyes wide open, America is on a death march into declension which will ultimately make us little more than a footnote in history books as some other nations are. Immorality in every form has become the entertainment and desire of so many of the people of the United States. Things are happening now that one would never have dreamed of only a few years ago. I want to mention just a few things.
- The redefining of marriage is a serious threat to our society. It strikes at the family which is the ordered heart of any society. Who would have thought a few years ago that such an abomination would happen in our country as to declare that two people of the same sex could “marry” each other? That was something that one would never have dreamed would happen. Did you ever think you would see the day when homosexuals would proudly proclaim their immoral lifestyle before the nation the way they do today? Did you ever think that it would be our courts filled with activist judges which are actually winning the battle for several liberal agendas including the gay agenda, the abortion agenda and the same sex marriage agenda? With the ACLU threatening people and activist judges providing the proper impetus, just where will this all stop? It is frightening to think about. I think that when things of such importance are considered and when something of such far-reaching implications for a society is dealt with, the people themselves should make the decision and not just a few people on a court who seemingly have lost all common sense. But, those pushing these agendas have been smart enough to know that they would fail if it was left up to the people so their strategy has been to change the venue of decision making from the public to the courts. So, then just a few people who sit on our courts are moving this immoral agenda forward to the consternation of the people who really should be the ones to make the decisions on the issues. Only God knows what the final chapter will read like. But, I will say this: The Supreme Court does not hold session in heaven!
Remember that.
2. The emergence of the Judiciary as a legislative body. The United States is in danger of being radically transformed through the use of the judicial system as a method of re-interpreting the laws to make them fit the agenda and mindset of the judges. The original intent of the judiciary and the judges which occupy their office was to make sure that the laws involved in a particular case were followed correctly. They were to be the ones who made sure that the law was equally applied. About sixty years ago the scene changed in that the judges began to see their task as something quite different. Slowly but surely, they began to interpret the law the way they saw it as it applied to a particular situation. In other words, the application of the law began to “float” according to the different particulars of a case. Once this was accepted and written into an “opinion”, it then set a precedent for the next case to which the opinion could be applied. Over a period of time, the original law which was suppose to be judiciously applied by the judges became something which hardly resembled the law in its original intent. This is what is happening to the constitution. It has now been described as a “living document” which can be “re-adjusted” in its application in order to meet almost any criteria. This allows for activists and judges which are sympathetic to their causes to formulate an application of a law or constitutional statement which totally misses the point and which is a misuse of the original intent of the constitutional authors. If the people of the United States do not stand up and demand that this sort of thing stop, then they are at the mercy of a handful of people who can actually re-write law to fit their own agenda or understanding of it instead of judiciously applying it. The liberal agendas which are so aggressive these days would not have a chance without the judges. A small group of people are negating the work of congress in many ways and they are telling the whole of society what their mores should be like. This is not right and must stop.
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Originally the different branches of the government were designed to check and balance each other to keep one from becoming too powerful. The Executive branch had veto power but a veto could also be overridden by the Legislative branch. Those two still balance each other. The Legislative branch has a power it is not exercising and therefore the Judiciary is running wild unchecked. The Legislative branch can, if it would, instruct the Judiciary that they cannot rule concerning certain things. This is suppose to balance the power of the judiciary but it is not being employed. I think the American people should demand that the Legislative branch exercise this right given to them in our constitution. Without this balance, the judiciary will continue to warp the law to fit their own liking. It will also re-shape the moral code of the United States into something which is a total abomination.
3. The media has become a six-hundred pound immoral gorilla which is bound, bent and determined to foist all the immorality and misinformation on the general public they can. In actuality, they are insulting the intelligence of the American public by assuming that they will only watch those things which are immoral in some way. I am referring not only to Hollywood, but to the giant television media as well which is piping the grossest forms of immorality right into our living rooms. Recent huge successes of Christian films should show these people that the public wants something different. Good secular family films have also enjoyed wonderful box office receipts. But the media giants seem blind to this fact. They continually offer only those things that reflect their own perverted lifestyles. Seemingly, they do not have a good moral frame of reference with which to create anything. In the past thirty years or so things have degenerated at an alarming rate. Things are shown on television now that one would never have imagined in prior years. The minds and hearts of a couple of generations have been poisoned by what they have seen and heard. The time is quickly approaching when Christian people and moral people of other faiths will have to turn off their television sets in order to maintain their own conscience in a proper manner.
The national news media is going to have to bear the burden of much of the declension of America. They are like a bunch of mangy vultures sitting on an old dead tree just waiting to find something that stinks enough for them so that they can swoop down and gorge themselves. I have lost all respect for the national news media. Their behavior in the last few years is despicable. The American public has been force fed a twenty- four- hour- a -day diet of news which is slanted toward a liberal interpretation of events. It shows the same things over and over with the result that people are indoctrinated in the direction the political agenda of the particular media is slanted. Their coverage of political things in particular betrays their liberal viewpoint. And, if an event does not suit their need, they simply ignore it or pay only as much attention to it as they can get by with. Also, too much is told. There must be some things which are not for public consumption such as military secrets. Our news media sits in their studios and enables our enemies to know exactly what we are doing and what their own aggression has done to us. If they see that something has worked, they will simply do it again. It is absolutely foolish for the media to divulge as much information as they do. Of course, they are after one thing: advertising dollars and ratings. All else to them is not much of a consideration. In my humble opinion, the media of today are at the very core of a lot of our societal ills. Our society is crumbling morally and the mass media is contributing highly to that crumble while laughing all the way to the bank. Some moral sanity must be restored.
4. The church in America is in a mess generally. The mainline denominations showing growth are those which adhere to the Bible and teach their people those principles found therein. The real problem is that too many preachers and church leaders are too politically correct to deal with the truth. They are afraid they will offend someone and it seems that the worse thing one can do to another in today’s PC world is to offend them or tell them they are wrong in some way. So, where moral issues become political ones, those preachers abdicate their position and mollify their message in order for it to fit the will and desires of a PC world. I believe that one of the major reasons our nation is in a moral abyss is because the preachers of righteousness have ceased to do just that and they have altered their message to be palatable to a world which hates God and His Authority: The Bible. Passages which make a definite statement on issues such as homosexuality are reinterpreted to fit the prevailing liberal agenda. Anyone who says they are called of God and who will not stand for the Word of God and the moral positions prescribed in it is not worth the salt in his blood and should be honest enough to step out of the pulpit and go get himself an honest job. Many of our mainline denominations cannot find true North when it comes to their stand on homosexuality. If I were a member of any of those denominations, I would repent, beg God for forgiveness and join another denomination which honors Him. These churches are fast becoming some of that refuse left alongside the road of history. God will not honor them is they do not honor Him and He will see to it that they cease to be at some point in time. Millions of good people are being led astray by spiritual leaders who are nothing more that the Biblical “blind leading the blind.” God will exact his judgment upon these people
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in due time. What America needs is for God’s men to stand boldly and proclaim His truths while relying on Him for protection and guidance. We must have a rebirth of Biblical preaching if we are to return to a solid foundation morally and spiritually. What we really need is another Great Awakening and a national revival. Pray that God will send us one.
MORE: Rev. Bill Harrell – Opinion: An Unbreakable Law
This writer has only pointed to a few of the most vital areas in The Declension of the United States. There are many areas which are rapidly declining such as the value of life and the emergence of pornography as a form of entertainment. We are becoming more like Europe every day. The rest of the world looks at the U.S. and scoffs at our puritanical viewpoints. I think that speaks volumes about how far they have fallen if they think we are puritanical. The Declension of the United States is thoroughly under way and it is akin to a freight train which is out of control and headed for a disastrous wreck. God help us to turn to Him before it is too late.
Reverend William (Bill) Harrell has been in ministry 48 years. He served as the pastor of Abilene Baptist Church in Martinez, GA for over 30 of those years. He can be reached at wfh@williamfharrell.com. You can also check out his blog at www.williamfharrell.com
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