Before you answer affirmatively or negatively, I ask that you consider some things I will attempt to bring to the forefront of the discussion. I believe that America’s moral shift is one of the most significant reasons for our current condition politically, relationally, internationally, fiscally, and spiritually. You can agree or disagree; that is your right and choice. 

For decades, I have watched a noticeable shift in the definition of morality in my beloved America. I am more than 70 years old, and in my decades on the planet, I have witnessed many changes in politics, interpersonal relationships, religious agendas, approaches, and virtually every sector of life. Some of those changes have been astoundingly good, and some alarmingly bad.

Some find my use of the Bible in my discussions anathema, and others applaud my commitment to my faith and my valuing of God’s Word, precepts, and principles.  Some question my beliefs, and some disdain my political views.  Again, that is their right, privilege, and choice.  I do not run from my position but staunchly stand by my convictions.

When I examine history and my experiences, I look at America and readily acknowledge that this Republic is in a constant state of flux. Change is inevitable in life, for nothing remains static. However, some bedrock issues should never change or be abandoned in the pursuit of modernism and progress. One of those is basic human morality, which I believe is biblical morality.

The argument that religion or God has no place in the political discussion and the function of government is a flawed argument.  I contend that based on what I believe the Bible teaches and the writings of our founders.  Our 1^st U.S. President, George Washington, said, “While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.” _––The Writings of Washington_{, pp. 342-343.}

That was not an isolated view, for many, if not most, of the founders held the view that God and morality were essential in our becoming a free republic and enduring as one.  John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813, saying, “Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.”

Benjamin Rush’s view of morality is expressed in his ‘Essays, Literal, Moral, and Philosophical’ published in 1798.  “If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary.  The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted, has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God.”

Alexis de Tocqueville, in ‘Democracy in America,’ expressed his view of what made America great.  He believed that equality was his era’s great political and social idea.  He believed that the United States of America offered the most advanced example of equality in action.  He admired American individualism but warned that a society of individuals could easily become atomized and paradoxically uniform when “every citizen, being assimilated to all the rest, is lost in the crowd.”  He feared the ‘democratic tyranny of the majority,’ in which individual rights were compromised or usurped.

America was a beacon of hope and freedom that shone brightly worldwide. Its otherness compared to the despotism of the world and the tyrannical monarchial systems drew people like moths to a flame. In the view of the founders, that beacon could only continue to shine so long as we honored God and recognized the value of following His precepts.

George Washington in his inaugural address of 1789 said, “I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

In a book published in 1835, Andrew Reed and James Matheson, two British ministers, wrote of America, “America will be great if America is good. If not, her greatness will vanish like a morning cloud.”  We have shifted significantly in our moral moorings, and the devaluation of biblical moral principles is weakening the foundations of our Republic.

America was not founded solely on certain ideals but on a certain kind of people, predominately Christian, and it is dependent on their moral virtue for survival. When the pillars of morality are destroyed, the nation will plunge into a social darkness that makes it impossible to remain free.

As the morals of a society are eroded and fade, so do the liberties of that society.  T.S. Eliot advanced this idea in his series of lectures at Cambridge University in 1939.  He said, “The choice before is the creation of a new Christian culture and acceptance of a pagan one.  To speak of ourselves as a Christian Society, in contrast to that of [National Socialist] Germany or [Communist] Russia, is an abuse of terms. We mean only that we have a society in which no one is penalized for the formal profession of Chistianity; but we conceal from ourselves the unpleasant knowledge of the real values by which we live.”  

America seems to be abandoning our founding principles and morphing toward a pagan philosophy of moral relativism, where power alone determines what is right.  Our inalienable rights granted by our creator are hanging in the balance.  Freedom of speech, religion, and equal protection under the law are endangered.  Our Republic moves nearer extinction as our definitions and practice of morality shift away from the biblical precept.

I believe that if we are to salvage America and keep our Republic a Free Constitutional System, we must return to God and restore our moral moorings. That would include strengthening the family unit and readopting the idea that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

I call on all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and followers of the Bible to embrace the call of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and fall on our faces in repentance, individually and nationally. I ask God to bring us back to being One Nation Under God, where liberty and justice can be experienced. America is a prize worth fighting for, and I ask you to join the fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom!

God bless you, and God bless America!