Modern Day Rome
“Whaz happenin?” It is not just an informal greeting, it is a good question related to what is happening in America. America is often spoken of as a nation in decline. At issue is what the elements are that are leading to the decline?
The election being over, let’s go to work on building a better America.
It appears God is saying to America, “Now let’s try building a better America, and let’s get it right this time.”
There is a classic case study from which we can learn and potentially avoid the decline.
Historian Edward Gibbon lists five reasons Rome fell in his book, “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”
His extensive study of the period of the decline led him to conclude there were five factors in the decline. Our society seems to be unaware of the same factors being at work within our culture. They are:
1. The increase of divorce undermines the home, the base of society. In 2022, a total of 673,989 divorces and annulments occurred across the 45 U.S. states that report this statistic. During that same year, 2,065,905 marriages occurred, with the U.S. marriage rate 6.2 per 1,000 people. Far more people get married over the course of each year than get divorced. Nevertheless, family life is in decline.
2. High taxes and the spending of public money for free circuses and free bread for the population. The influx of illegal migrants has accelerated spending. The government has no money. To give away money and services the government has to tax people to get the money. This Socialist trait has increased rapidly.
3. A mad craving for pleasure with sports becoming more exciting every year. Admission at some prime sporting events is $400 to $500. This has not kept stadiums and arenas from being filled to capacity. Actors, actresses, entertainers, sports figures, and musicians are modern day heroes and heroines; all are secular evangelists.
4. Gigantic armies built to protect from an outside enemy when the real enemy was decaying morals. Billions are being given to fund the Ukrainian War, assistance for Israel. Our own expansive global military drains our coffers. Bankruptcy is inevitable at some point.
5. The decay of religion with faith becoming formalism, and the loss of the ability to guide or warn the people. The decline in church attendance is symptomatic of our decline spiritually. The societal influence once exercised by the faith community is missing nationally. Pray that we not be a modern Rome.