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Gone Over to the Dark Side?

Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by OldRegular, Jan 8, 2013.

  1. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    There have been two seminal events in the life of this country since WWII, The first was the Supreme Court decision in 1963 banning prayer and Bible reading in Public schools.. The second was the 1973 Supreme Court decision which struck down state laws banning abortion, the slaughter of the unborn.

    President Kennedy greeted the 1963 decision with the remark that home was the place where prayer and Bible reading should be taught to school children. At the time I thought that made sense, especially coming from a democrat. But as Paul Harvey would say "here's the rest of the story". It seems to me on looking back that the American people, and God alone knows why, looked at that 1963 decision as a Bill of Divorcement from God to the country and have since behaved accordingly.

    THe Roe v Wade decision of 1973 was greeted with an assortment of views, from open, perhaps enthusiastic, acclaim to shock and dismay. As I recall the Roman Catholic Communion was the first and largest organization to express opposition. Many denominations, including Southern Baptists, expressed guarded support. That support increased in some "Christian" Institutions or was eventually disavowed in others including the Southern Baptist Convention. It is unlikely that anyone could foresee that in less than 40 years more than 50,000,000 unborn children would be slaughtered, exceeding the number reportedly killed in the Nazi Holocaust by well over 40,000,000. Dr. C. Everette Koop, prominent child surgeon and Surgeon General under President Reagan, said of abortion: "Abortion is an atrocity changing the whole thought process of our country. More than a million unborn lives a year cannot be violently terminated without taking its toll on us as a nation." Time has shown him to be correct.

    The final impact of those two Supreme Court decisions and their general acceptance by the populace is known only to God. There can be little doubt as to the decline of the American culture and nation. We have gone from the most powerful nation in the history of the world to one that seems reconciled if not willing to cede that role to Communist China. We have gone from a nation where homosexuality was generally considered a perversion if not an abomination to one where general acceptance, if not approval, is the norm and homosexual marriage will soon be embraced by the Supreme Court. Homosexual marriage and the continued and unfettered slaughter of the unborn child are supported and celebrate by one of the two major political parties in this country. That same party could not exist without the support of professing Christians.

    Reportedly the majority of people in this country profess to be Christians so I ask almost daily: Why has God allowed this to happen? Scripture shows that God uses nations and God also punishes nations. The United States has never been a chosen people but they have been a blessed people. Has God said of this country what he said to the ten Northern Tribes of Israel so long ago? Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. [Hosea 4:17]. A terrible, frightful, judgment!
     
  2. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    Yes, the answer is yes we have gone over to the dark side...and paying the price!
     
  3. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    I agree with President Kennedy, but would have said that church and home is where prayer and Bible reading should be taught to children.

    I don't like the idea of just anyone teaching my children about prayer and Bible reading. I don't want children to hear one thing from their parents and one thing from their teachers. I don't want children to sit in class while prayers are offered up to Mary, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, or the Great Spirit. I don't think Muslim teachers or Jewish teachers or atheist teachers should be forced to the read the Bible before class any more than a Christian teacher should have to read the Koran.

    It is our fault, the church's fault, that America is where she is today. It is not 'America kicking God out of school' because He can't be kicked out of anywhere - the problem is that He is ignored in too many churches.

    The dark side is not a government problem - it is a church and individual Christian problem.

    America did not turn bad in 1963. This is a country that legalised the enslavement of fellow human beings and committed ethnic cleansing in the name of 'manifest destiny.' In 1954 Congress added the phrase 'under God' to the words 'one nation' in the Pledge of Allegiance. This despite the fact that vast numbers of people were second class citizens because of the colour of their skin. The murder of innocent children is another in this line of abominations.

    Sin has always darkened the world - our task is not to pass more laws, but to shine the Light of the glorious gospel.
     
    #3 NaasPreacher (C4K), Jan 9, 2013
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  4. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    I do not think I have ever been in more agreement with you. One will notice, on this board for example, that thread after thread blames government for the march to the dark side, as it is put here. Obama this, Congress that, the good old days, Bush did it. What we forget is the basic sin nature of man, and the way we got to the dark side is caused by the embracing of sin as normal, and over time, governments enacting laws to support such activities.

    One cannot really pinpoint a date, but one can say the situation has gotten worse. Blame government all you want, the government is us. We elected them, then, when we decide we enjoy sinning more, we blame the strawman instead of us. It all has to do with self centeredness to a degree not imagined a few decades ago, and little or no attention given to the Lord or the needs of others. If one wants to see the comparison between now and then, (few decades ago), work in the retail or restaurant industry. Friendly service is one thing, but everyone demanding they be treated like the King of England is quite another. Everyone thinks they are the most important person on earth. That is why I could not work in customer service. I had just soon dump a pitcher of ice tea over a screaming customer asking why I was late in getting their refill as I would be in smiling and saying "sir, I am so sorry and it will not happen again."

    The bottom line is that we are at the dark side because of our own selfish desires to a level never before seen in history. Only the Lord knows how much worse it can get.
     
  5. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Teaching at home is a given. But that does not speak to whether it should be in the public. The more we make excuses and take God from the market place the more we go down hill as a country. It is not possible to maintain a moral people without God. Our founding fathers new this and made public statements regularly to that affect.
     
  6. Thinkingstuff

    Thinkingstuff Active Member

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    It seems in this country there is almost a manic fear of anything Christian in the public forum to include support of its values. Though anything else and I mean anything else and any other view seems ok for public discussion. I find it curious christianity and its values is marked as the great taboo in our nation.
     
  7. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    I would simply point out that I believe the major problem of the 1963 Court decision was:
    I don't believe I said that
    I said
    Big, big difference!

    I would also note that I noted the fact that many churches endorsed the Roe v Wade decision and some still do:

    Clearly I show that the church has a serious problem.

    I don't believe that I said anywhere that the problem is a government problem.

    I never owned any slaves and none of my ancestors owned slaves. We would have been classed as "poor white trash" by the "Gone With the Wind" type folks! That being said can you show one other instance in history where people of one race fought a war to free people of another race?

    As for the treatment of American Indians. Frankly and sadly that is just one more example the history of conquest in the world. This country may well experience the same when the Chinese take over!

    I don't disagree!

    At last!

    Don't believe I mentioned passing more laws. In fact I don't believe I accused the government of causing the problems other than the Supreme Court decisions.
     
    #7 OldRegular, Jan 9, 2013
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  8. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    :thumbs: Well said!
     
  9. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    And then they use the ridiculous excuse that they do not want someone else teaching their children. A strawman at best.
     
  10. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    I appreciate your detailed response, but my post was not aimed at your comments specifically, but at the general thought that America was godly before 1963.
     
  11. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    I could not argue that America has ever been a Godly country although I believe there was a time when the churches and people as a whole seemed to exhibit a greater dependence on God. I was a boy during the depression and WWII.

    Perhaps that dependence was simply an illusion and the two events I mentioned simply burst the bubble. I don't know! I do believe that the 1963 and 1973 Court decisions are instrumental in the decline of this country as the major world power. I believe the final nails may well be the Court recognizing homosexual marriage and the increase in sex selection abortions!
     
  12. NaasPreacher (C4K)

    NaasPreacher (C4K) Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for that and I apologise for possibly lumping you in with those who keep trotting out the 'we kicked God out' philosophy. I misread your intention and it is obvious that this is not your mindset.

    I disagree that these events were instrumental in the US downfall. I suspect instead that they are part of the general secularisation of the west that tells man to rely on himself instead on deity.
     
    #12 NaasPreacher (C4K), Jan 9, 2013
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  13. Yeshua1

    Yeshua1 Well-Known Member
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    mosy americans have always been over on the "dark Side", as there have always been more sinners then saints in our society!

    Difference is that even while that was true, the culture still reflected and held to biblical morals/standards, but now that we have gone full postmodern...

    good news is that the Lord has been abl eto do a revival even in lands worse off than us, so he can still do His sovereign work, for when the enemy comes in like a flood, the lord comes in like an ocean!
     
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