When famous Soviet dissident Alexandr Solzhenitsyn was asked by an interviewer why his nation had succumbed to the horrors of Communism, he replied, "Because we forgot God." Has America, like Russia before it, forgotten God? What will be the consequences of this decision? In the early 1800s, Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville visited this country to find out why America was enjoying such success. After his travels, he concluded, "America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." There is plenty of evidence that this nation has ceased to be good and that God is expressing His displeasure with our collective actions.
The dramatic rise in the incidence of teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases among youth and juvenile crime (including rape and murder) began after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1962 rejection of prayer in public schools. According to a survey conducted by the Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center among sixth through ninth graders in eight cities, 65% of the boys felt that it is okay for a man to force a woman to have sex against her will if they have been dating for six to twelve months. No wonder, if children are not taught that they are responsible to a Higher Power for their actions. The simple prayer the Supreme Court struck down reads as follows: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessing upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country." Following this case, the Court began methodically expelling other religious principles from American life.
Much of the responsibility for our nation's current plight lies with the Christian Church in America. To a large extent, we have grown fat, dumb, lazy, apathetic and complacent. Our country leads the world in drug usage, violent crime and production of pornography. Many can no longer discern the difference between good and evil, nor do they take a stand against evil in any way. Half or more of those who profess to be Christians either approve of abortion or don't think it's an important issue.
We tend to think of martyrdom as something that happened long ago in the distant past, not realizing that more people have lost their lives for their faith in the 20th Century than in the previous 19 centuries combined! Right now, in Communist countries like China and Vietnam and strongly Islamic countries like Sudan and Indonesia, people are being tortured, maimed and killed for no other reason than that they have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. But we don't care as long as it means we can buy cheaper goods. We're willing to extend Most Favored Nation status to regimes which persecute other human beings.
What has been the result of this wholesale rejection of righteous principles? On October 11, 1987, the largest gathering of homosexuals, probably in world history, took place in Washinton, DC. An estimated 200,000 marched past the White House and gathered near the Capitol. In the week immediately following the homosexual march, the US stock market dropped 235 points. Then on October 19, 1997, the stock market dropped over 500 points for the greatest one-day crash in history. The crash resulted in a one-day drop of 22.6%, and in eight days the market had lost 32.1%. The American economy was plunged into a recession that lingered into the 1990s. As late as August 1992, the newspapers reported 20% of the stocks had still not recovered from the crash. (By way of contrast, in the stock market crash of 1929, stocks only lost 12.6% of their value.)
Homosexuals in America have designated the last Sunday in June as "Gay Pride Day." Gay Pride Day 1992 resulted in an awesome earthquake that shook the entire Western area of the country. On June 28, the very morning of Gay Pride Day, the fourth (7.6 magnitude) and ninth (6.5 magnitude) most powerful earthquakes this century hit Southern California. These quakes were felt as far away as Idaho, and the 7.6 quake was the most powerful in the world in 1992. These quakes triggered smaller quakes in Northern California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and 750 miles away in Yellowstone National Park. This was the first time scientists had ever detected that an earthquake set off other quakes hundreds of miles away. One scientist stated, "So many areas became active - as if someone had flicked a switch."
On June 27, Gay Pride Day 1993, as hundreds of thousands of homosexuals and their supporters paraded in American cities, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers overflowed their banks in the Midwest. The Great Flood of 1993 turned out to be one of the greatest disasters in American history. The flood resulted in over $10 billion in damage; it destroyed 45,000 homes; 74,000 people had to be evacuated; two million acres were flooded; hundreds of counties were affected.
On January 17, 1994, a powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Northridge, California, where 80% of the video pornography in this country was produced. Describing a land that had turned its back on the ways of the Almighty, God proclaimed, "...the land itself vomits out her inhabitants." (Leviticus 18:25) The ground was literally shaking under the feet of the pornography industry. Thirty-three people were killed. Scientists admitted that they were unable to locate the fault that caused the quake. The implications were not lost even on the pornographers. One of the pornographers, Lenny Friedlander, commented, "These religious fanatics may think it's the Lord's way of telling us, Hey straighten your act out."
And the situation continues to intensify. In 1992 there were 32 declared disasters in the US. But in 1996, the number of declared disasters leapt to a staggering 81, impacting 40 states. In the past four years, this nation has experienced approximately ten "500-year floods."
On February 26, 1997, the House and Senate passed legislation requested by the Clinton Administration that would provide $400 million for overseas abortions. On March 3, the very day the funds were released, the most powerful tornadoes this century descended upon Arkansas - President Clinton's home state. Arkansas was hit by 26 tornadoes - more than in all of 1996 - in a five-hour period. Twenty-five people in the state were killed. Arkadelphia, 75 miles from Little Rock, was reduced to matchwood and rubble.
In Jeremiah 1:16, God declares that He will hold those accountable who turn from Him to do evil: "And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me..." Rampant pornography, promiscuity, homosexuality, immorality, worship of false gods and baby killing (i.e., abortion) have always brought God's judgment to nations in the past. Do we really think we're any different? Just as God judged Sodom and Gomorrah and ancient Israel, He will also judge America. God is warning us as a nation that we need to change our ways. Are we getting the message? In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."
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