What if our problem–America seemingly crumbling under our feet–isn’t political, but moral? I don’t profess to be pastoral in any way, shape, or form, however, a recent headline caught my attention so I read the article.
A headline stating that five things are destroying America is an attention grabber, right? The article of which I speak was written by Chris Widener and I found it on Politicrossing.
Following are the five things which allegedly “have become gods to the American people, so much so that when confronted with a decision whether to stand on principle or pursue their vanities, most Americans choose their meaningless pursuits.”
As I look at America, a moral shell of what it once was, filled with men and women who have lost their way, have very little understanding of truth, and who seem endlessly led astray to the point where they know not where they are or where they going, I realize that Americans have been lured away by vanities.
Vanities in the dictionary is defined as being worthless, pointless or futile.
When they should be focused on serious issues that face our nation, most Americans can’t be bothered as they are currently distracted.
Sports – Sports are a very good thing, in their place, but for many Americans, sports are taken to an extreme.
“Our Founders made no peace with this organization of public sports. They did not spend their lives to secure for all men and women on the earth freedom, health, and leisure, in order that they might waste lives in such folly.” H.G. Wells, A Modern Utopia
When we should be focused on saving our nation, people are instead consumed with sports. It reminds me of the term “bread and circuses,” credited to Juvenal, a Roman poet. The idea is that when they should be focused on civic duty, citizens are instead distracted with the trivial.
The last few years have inarguably demonstrated a war against conservatives, demeaning them as well as American traditions such as the National Anthem. Nowhere is this more evident than professional sports.
The major sports leagues have not only tolerated but encouraged the degradation of America with their treatment of our National Anthem.
It seems insane to think anyone will allow themselves to be publicly ridiculed and then turn around and give those same people money, whether attending the games, buying their franchise items, or buying the products they are paid to endorse.
Wealth – There is no problem with wealth. Money can be used for good or for evil. But the relentless pursuit of wealth causes some to go astray and not to stand with truth.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” I Timothy 6:10
That passage does not say that “money is the root of all evil.” But the “love of money” is what can certainly lead you astray.
Today many make decisions about right and wrong, and are being swayed by money. One example is cancel culture.
Gambling – A friendly wager is something we have all done and it didn’t make us turn from our values.
But the mindless gambling done in casinos all over America, with people sitting for hours in front of slot machines like mindless robots is a sad sight.
Perhaps even sadder is hundreds of American senior citizens sitting with their oxygen tanks next to them, putting their Social Security checks into a slot machine, making someone else rich.
According to Statista, the US Casino Gaming Revenue is $79.42B a year in the US.
All of this is simply a distraction that keeps Americans placated while the country is stolen from under us.
Casual Sex – Of course, sex is AMAZING. But Americans have moved way past the beauty of sex and are now entrapped by it, thinking they are finding themselves but in actuality are placing themselves in a prison of their own making, driven by their desires.
The sexual revolution promised freedom and yet, the results have been far from it. Tens of millions of people are on “hook-up” sites like Tinder and Plenty of Fish, looking for their next sexual encounter.
Tens of millions of Americans are in bondage to porn.
According to 2017 statistics:
Washington, D.C., has more porn viewership per capita than any state in the nation (does it surprise us?)
Pornhub has 81,000,000 users per day
The U.S. leads all countries with the most traffic to Pornhub
According to Women’s Health Magazine:
After surveying over 1,000 adults, they found that just over half of Americans watch porn as a couple, and 66 percent would consider it if they were asked. But it’s not just men who want to watch—more than half of the women currently in relationships said they’d be into it. And for women under 25, that number was even higher.
Obviously this spells sexual crisis. Broken marriages, STD’s, and unwanted pregnancies that lead to abortion or children who are mistreated by their parents.
Entertainment or Amusement – Sometimes we all need to just “veg out.” But Americans are consumed with entertainment and amusement, to the point of distraction.
Amusement has at its root, the word “Muse.” The definition of Muse is, according to the dictionary, “to think about something carefully and thoroughly.”
Now, remember that an “A” in front of a word means “no” or “nothing,” as in the difference between “Moral” and “Amoral.” Or “Theist” and “Atheist.”
Now, see what “Amusement” means? It literally means “No thorough or careful thinking.”
What say you Def-Con readers? Is it time for you to reflect? Have you fallen into the trap of caring more for your vanities than your civic responsibilities? As a final note of prophecy is a passage to muse over:
II Timothy 3:1-5 may describe America rather well: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
