MARTINEZ (BP) — In Webster’s Dictionary, the word “declension” is described as a falling off towards a worse state; a downward tendency; deterioration; decay. It perfectly depicts 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 rate more rapid than one could have imagined only a few years ago. 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.

In reading some of the history of the Roman Empire, one can get a glimpse of 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 led the most powerful empire in the world at that time.

It polluted the home and caused the destruction of the Roman family. Immorality polluted the 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.

Even at that, we learn from history that it took a long period of time for the Roman Empire to fall to such levels that it ceased to be an empire. It did not happen 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 in order to recognize the parallels to our country.

The great Grecian Empire is another case in point. The empire was totally democratic, with the people having absolute control over the direction of the country. But 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 earth. These people produced some of the most wonderful literature and philosophy that have 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, but it did.

Any time a person, a people or a nation slides down the slippery slope into immorality, it dooms them to destruction. We could also look at the Egyptian Empire and come to the same conclusions concerning their fall. The British Empire is a more modern example of how a once-powerful nation can decline so radically 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.

No nation in history was any worse at the point of immorality than is the United States. What makes this country think that we 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 along with other nations.

Immorality in every form has become the entertainment and desire of so many people of the United States. Things are happening now that one would never have dreamed only five years ago. Among them:

1. The redefining of marriage. It strikes at the family, the ordered heart of any society.
2. The emergence of the judiciary as a legislative body. The United States is in danger of being 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.
3. The media, which has become a 600-pound immoral gorilla determined to foist all the immorality on the general public they can. In actuality, they are insulting the intelligence of the American public by assuming that they will only watch or purchase immoral things.
4. The church in America, which generally is in a mess. The 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 or tell them they are wrong.

There are many other areas reflecting the rapid moral declension of the United States, 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 United States 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.