It seems to me that the decline of civilization in the Western World is due to the rise of secularism. Less than a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union and the implicit defeat of communist ideology in Russia, there has been already the stirrings of bald-faced atheism in America. Of course there is Castro and other regimes in South America to dampen the spirits of those souls who still hanker after the solidarity of socialism, the camaraderie of singing the Internationale together in a crowd of people on a balmy evening in the piazza and all that.
However, nothing has brought out the beast in the atheist's heart than the two-term presidency of George W. Bush. It took an outwardly Christian man to incite the atheists in America to strike at the heels of all the Christians who supported the rise of Conservatism over the last twenty years. It should be interesting to see if the Conservatives will defend their hard won status as the majority in American politics. There are some signs of that, because today we have a genuinely patriotic youth that have actually taken up arms and are defending America's values of freedom and democracy against its enemies. But will they battle their domestic enemies? They have sworn to defend the Constitution not only against its foreign enemies but its domestic enemies as well.
To many analysts and writers, such as Ann Coulter, it is clear that the US is under attack from within and not only from without, and the enemies are the secular humanists, the atheists, the agnostics, the leftists -- in short the majority of the liberal Democrats.
The tell-tale signs of the rising enemy in American politics are all there: the attack against Condoleezza Rice by Senator Barbara Boxer of California to prevent this distinguished Black woman from becoming the Secretary of State, the attacks of Senator Nancy Pelossi against the Liberation of Iraq, the defeat of Senator Joseph Lieberman in his campaign for the Democratic Party's Senate seat because of his support for the Liberation of Iraq, (after all he did for the preservation of the Democratic Party,) and the attacks of Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean against every policy of the Republican Party.
There are millions of American voters who want to eradicate every vestige of Christianity from the American milieu. Crosses, Christian monuments, anything that has to do with Christianity, are removed from public buildings and parks. For example, the little symbol of a cross was removed from the Seal of Los Angeles County, where it used to be on police cars and public buildings, without so much as a protest march by the public.
I've never seen so many hysterical people rise against Christianity anywhere in the world. Even the Islamic Extremists, the terrorists and the suicide bombers haven't clamored against Christianity the way the atheists and the leftists in America have.
In the past, the liberal Democrats would chip away at Christian values, but now we have a President who is a genuine Christian and the atheists have left their senses altogether in their attacks against the President. Some days ago, the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez called President Bush a devil. He did it in the United Nations and later he did it in Harlem, New York. It's amazing that the irony of it all doesn't choke up the liberals who agree with Chavez. If anyone had spoken against a President in any country of the world, they'd be shot down instantly. Here Chavez goes about like he were some kind of hero.
Despite all this, the atheists in America are hoping to win some seats back in Congress and the Senate. Heaven forbid, but if they succeed to any degree, it will be a sign that the American people aren't taking this attack against Christianity seriously.
Regardless of what leadership the Western countries elect, the Muslims will continue their fight against the so-called infidels, because the Western churches misinterpretation of Scriptures paints an abominable picture of the world.
With a complete misunderstanding of God's Triune Essence, the Western churches whole basis of Christianity is in jeopardy. For the Western mainline churches, the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is a mystery. For the sectarian churches that don't believe in the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a total mystery. To the Muslims the Westerners are blasphemers, who believe in many gods. Moreover, the Western countries secular humanism is an abomination to the Muslims.
The concept of the separation of church and state adds more fuel to the fire, as far as the Muslims are concerned. The Western countries want to steer the Muslims away from the perception of the Western World as being predominantly Christian; but the more they do this the more the Muslims realize that the Western countries are faking it, that they have no sense of morality. They see the contradiction in the Western Christians posturing and their hypocrisy in dealing with Eastern Christianity and Orthodox Judaism.
To Muslims, Islam is straightforward. They all believe in one Qur'an, which is only in the Arabic language. There are no different versions of the Qur'an. They see through the confusion of Christianity. Christians cannot agree on what language the New Testament and the Old Testament were originally written, some say Hebrew, some say Aramaic, some say Greek, some say Latin, and some say all of them.
As long as the Western churches deny that the Scriptures were originated in the original language that God spoke to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus, the Muslims will not accept them as believers and will continue to call them infidels.
The Western churches are becoming more and more liberal in their interpretations of different Biblical versions (which are essentially distortions of the Scriptures along different lines of nationalistic, political and economic imperatives.) In their desire to keep Western Christianity as a European (White Man's) religion, the Western churches prefer the Greek civilization's translations of the Scriptures, which are more compatible with Western philosophies of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, which in turn gave rise to the thinking of the Western scientists throughout the ages.
The Western churches' secular form of Christianity owes its origins to the polytheistic religions of the Greeks and the Romans. The modern problems of the churches with gay priests and pastors stem from these philosophies that have permeated Western Christianity because of the fallacy that the New Testament was originated in the Greek language.
In the present world, democracy is the rule of the day. The UN could not come to any agreement without some sort of democratic procedure being followed. With the exception of the extreme periods in the history of fascism and communism, namely during the reigns of Hitler and Stalin, even these forms of government were to some extent democratic. People were able to vote and voice their opinions even under the fascist and communist regimes. Saddam Hussein was elected as President for Life twice. Democracy, then, whether fake or genuine relies on the public voicing their opinion or voting, regardless of the coercion; as long as there is a vote, it's some sort of democracy, take for example, the elections in Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.
After the Greek and Roman empires, we see the growth of democracy with every succeeding generation. In contrast, the Biblical model of government was a monarchy, with the King as the servant of God. This model began in Mesopotamia at the dawn of history and was carried forward for the most part by European nations in later centuries.
However, the European kings and queens of the present age do not have the same authority as the kings of ancient times, and this is due to the rise of democracy as well. Even in a monarchy the people have rights and can vote for their representatives in government. The kings have limited powers and some are merely symbolic.
Many European nations have already deposed their kings, some even brutally. The 20th Century brought down many a royal reign. As for fascism and communism, none of them have ever admitted they were dictatorial. Many rulers have represented themselves as freedom fighters, as heroes of the people, or in other words democratic to varying degrees, and magnanimous in encouraging their people to voice their opinions, especially in support of their dictatorship. The public forums of these rulers are run differently and the structure of their governments may even be culturally dependent; but they all cater to some extent to the wishes of the electorate and sometimes the mob in the street. Even mob rule is a form of democracy.
Then it becomes obvious that all forms of government, whatever they are called, are in contention for the status of being the most democratic. None of them are the servants of God, according to their own laws; but they all claim to be doing God's will or are in line with the will of some supreme being or are living according to the laws of nature. All governments justify their authority according to their culture or the economic reality of their people.
Without a common moral code to hold everyone to the same standards, every government in the world must protect its own interests and sometimes the interests of its own people. When these interests are diametrically opposed, war is the only solution, as no amount of negotiation can change the fact that everyone thinks they are right. War, therefore, is inevitable.
Sept. 29, 2006