America Is In A Societal Meltdown
By Chuck Baldwin
July 8, 2010


This column is archived at
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1862


"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or
gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale
goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious
people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." So said
Founding Father and America's second President John Adams. And he was
absolutely right. And that is what is absolutely wrong with our country
today: America is in a complete moral, societal, and cultural meltdown.

Founding Father and America's first US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay
correctly summarized the reason our new nation (and the fight for its
liberty and independence) was successful. He wrote in Federalist 2, "With
equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased
to give this one connected country to one united people--a people descended
from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same
religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in
their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and
efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly
established general liberty and independence."

In other words, a united constitutional republic can only exist within the
framework of certain rather narrow and finite conditions. Remove those
conditions and the framework for liberty and limited government falls apart.
And the above statements by Adams and Jay succinctly summarize the
conditions necessary for freedom's framework.

"A Moral And Religious People"

At America's founding, the principles of Christian philosophy and ideology
were universally accepted. The vast majority of the colonists were
churchgoing, Protestant Christians who firmly embraced and respected the
sacred principles taught in the Holy Scriptures. In fact, the reason most
colonists placed such a high premium on education was so that children would
be able to read and study the Bible for themselves. It is more than
interesting that America's early educators all centered their curriculum
upon the Bible. Include in this august list Benjamin Harris, publisher of
the New England Primer; the "Father of American Education," Noah Webster;
along with one of early America's most successful school textbook authors,
William Holmes McGuffey.

Beyond that, when we talk about colonial America's love of worship, we are
not talking about what passes for "worship" in modern America. We are not
talking about these Disneyland entertainment villages known as
mega-churches. We are not talking about espresso Sunday Schools or glorified
social clubs. We are talking about a place where preachers were bold and
powerful proclaimers of truth and where people went to learn the Word of God
(and how to apply it to every walk of life--including politics), not wallow
in slurpy, sugary, shallow sermonettes that do nothing to prepare men for
Christian warfare.

I challenge anyone to compare any of the sermons by colonial preachers such
as Elisha Williams, Charles Chauncy, Jonathan Mayhew, Isaac Backus, Samuel
Sherwood, John Witherspoon, Jacob Cushing, Samuel Cooper,
Samuel Langdon,
John Leland, Samuel Miller, Enos Hitchcock, Ebenezer
Baldwin, or Jonathan
Edwards with anything preached by Joel Osteen or Rick Warren.

Is it any wonder, then, that one cannot really distinguish the conduct and
attitudes of professing Christians from those who make no Christian
profession? Is it any wonder that churchgoing "Christians" seem to be as
unkind, as deceitful, as lazy, as greedy, as unthankful, and as immoral as
those who make no pretense regarding their unbelief? In fact, in some cases,
those with no Christian profession put professing Christians to shame in
matters of basic morality, decency, and civility. Why? One reason is the
fact that the Church as a whole is no longer "the pillar and ground of the
truth." Rather, it is more commonly regarded as being a Big Business
enterprise that is focused more on political
correctness and entertainment
than it is on possessing real conviction or spiritual power.

Add to the collapse of spirituality in America's churches the collapse of
morality in America's culture. We're talking about old-fashioned, basic
morality. How is it that so many Americans seem to be so ignorant about the
simplest moral principles? When did greed and ambition replace a desire for
honest character? When did comfort and ease replace conviction for (and
understanding of) good government? How is it that even "conservatives" have
come to look to Washington, D.C., for answers to State or even personal
problems? How is it that the fear
of God is no longer relevant when choosing
our civil magistrates? How can businessmen continue to sacrifice the sacred
principles of liberty on the altar of financial profits? Are money and
wealth really more important than liberty and peace? How can politicians
blatantly disregard their oaths to the Constitution? How can they continue
to grovel before special interest groups--and even foreign interests? How
can they--so willingly and easily--violate the liberty principles enshrined
in the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence?

Without an understanding of (and an appreciation for) basic morality,
America will collapse. Money and military might cannot and will not replace
the time-tested foundations of morality and fidelity. The collapse of basic
morality portends the collapse of America itself.

"One United People"

Contrary to what one hears from the politically correct crowd today,
unity--not diversity--is the key to America's greatness. Jay said that early
America was united with the same ancestors, language, religion, and
principles of government, manners, and customs. And he was right.

By and large, America was a Christian nation, speaking the same language,
reading the same Bible, worshipping the same God, understanding (and
respecting) the same form of government (a constitutional confederation of
free, self-governing states), and embracing the same concepts of culture
(law, nature, manners, etc.).

No more!

Thanks to decades of federal dictation, public school indoctrination, and
media and entertainment propaganda, the principles that once united us now
divide us. And divided we are! I would even argue that America is hopelessly
and helplessly divided. We are no longer united in our understanding of (or
appreciation for) Christianity; we are no longer united in our English
language; we are no longer united in our respect for our ancestors; we are
no longer united in our respect for God's Word; we are no longer united in
our respect for the principles of federalism or constitutional government;
and we are no longer united in our appreciation for the fundamental
principles of self reliance, morality, and freedom.

In other words, it is "crystal clear" that America is in the midst of a
complete and total spiritual, societal, cultural, moral, and political
meltdown. And what is also abundantly obvious is that as long as Washington,
D.C., continues to lord it over us (and who or what is going to stop it?),
it is only a matter of time before the final collapse occurs. And at that
point, freedom lovers will be fighting against their own countrymen for
their very lives and liberty.

Accordingly, I think all this talk about "saving America" is largely a
complete waste of time and energy. Instead, we need to be talking about
saving our individual states (and the truth is, probably at least half of
the states are beyond repair), saving our families, saving our communities,
and saving our individual freedoms. To continue to focus on "saving America"
or "changing Washington, D.C.," etc., is utter foolishness! Washington,
D.C., is not going to change; it is beyond redemption. Forget it! Circle the
wagons around your State; cement your convictions; prepare your family;
ready your resolve; and start planning for life after death--the death of
liberty and law in America--because the meltdown of American society and
culture has already begun...