Some 244 years ago a group of colonists got together in Philadelphia and took a bold and drastic action. They declared the colonies they lived in to be free from England and the rule of its king. And here we are today.
The genius of the Constitution our Founding Fathers wrote is pretty amazing. It has a built in system of checks and balances AND it can be changed if need be. But it is not perfect.
Our Founding Fathers recognized that no system of government they might devise could be perfect. Even so, they put together a pretty good one. It is still the best system of government thus far devised by man.
Our Founding Fathers also envisioned our country as a Christian nation. But in recent decades it has become de-Christianized. Some have even said we are becoming a pagan nation. Ideologies, political and otherwise, are slowly replacing religion. Christianity itself is even under attack. And our nation is suffering as a result.
Christianity Collapsing
As we celebrate our country’s birthday this year Catholic Americans might do well to keep in mind that we are a minority in our country. We make up just 22% of the country’s population. And that number appears to be getting smaller. In 2007 Catholics made up 24% of the population.
According to Pew, “Catholicism has experienced a greater net loss due to religious switching than has any other religious tradition in the U.S. Overall, 13% of all U.S. adults are former Catholics – people who say they were raised in the faith, but now identify as religious “nones,” as Protestants, or with another religion.”
But even many of those who identify as Catholic don’t seem to be very Catholic in their beliefs:
- Only 21.1% of Catholics go to Mass on Sunday;
- 76% of Catholics think artificial birth control should be allowed;
- 62% think Catholics who divorce and remarry without obtaining an annulment should be able to receive Communion;
- 61% think cohabiting adults should be able to receive Communion;
- 59% think women should be able to become priests;
- 46% think the Church should recognize marriage between two men or two women.
Instead of evangelizing and changing the culture, far too many Catholics have allowed the secular culture to change them. They have allowed themselves to be swayed by the father of lies. True wisdom is on the decline.
In his apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the beginning of the new millennium), issued on January 6, 2000, Pope St. John Paul II cited the collapse of Christian society as the primary reason for the need for a new evangelization. Since then the collapse seems to be speeding up.
The New Evangelization
In case you missed my June 2 CS article “Evangelizing a de-Christianized, Secular World,” Sacred Heart Seminary is offering a free, online course entitled “Theology of the New Evangelization.” Signing up for the course might not be a bad idea. Course and registration information can be found HERE. It is a six-week course that is self-paced.
As I opined in a recent CS article, we do not need better systems or a new form of government – we need better people.
“Imagine if the world was peopled by devout, practicing Catholics, all trying to lead virtuous lives. In all likelihood, there would be no war, no poverty, no hunger, no racism, and no murder.”
Our Founding Fathers recognized that a nation without strong morals guided by religious principles could not long endure. We are seeing this start to play out.
For many years now far too many people have been practicing self-indulgence instead of self-control. Hubris and pride have replaced humility, meekness, and Fear of the Lord. And now we have loud-mouthed know-nothings with high self-esteem committing acts of violence, vandalism, and destruction, and trying to validate them by calling it justice.
As George Washington said in his Farewell Address, upon leaving office in 1796:
“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
Two years later John Adams crystallized this thought:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
8 thoughts on “July 4, 2020: Another Year Older but declining in Wisdom”
Gene…thank you.
So what is your advice to turn this around?
Pray , pray, pray is what I am doing but it is so discouraging at times…
Jo, Absolutely keep praying. But we also have to start evangelizing, starting with our lapsed-Catholic friends and loved ones. Then we just trust in God.
The extremely un-Christian Trump, of course, whom this site has never criticized, has nothing at all to do with this trend, right?
He just gave the most hateful and divisive July 4 speech of any President. Is hatred part of your Christianity?
Maybe you would be happier reading articles at the National Catholic Reporter. You would probably enjoy reading Michael Sean Winters’ articles. He seems to echo your opinions. His dislike of Trump is evident.
As to your continued claim that “this site has never criticized” Trump, I refer you AGAIN to my article of Oct. 29, 2016: “The 2016 Catholic Voting Conundrum Simplified.” http://www.catholicstand.com/2016-catholic-voting-conundrum/. I was critical of both Clinton and Trump in the article.
Now kindly answer this question: Just what did you find, specifically, so hateful and divisive in Trump’s July 4 speech? He said, “We believe in equal opportunity, equal justice, and equal treatment for citizens of every race, background, religion, and creed. Every child, of every color — born and unborn — is made in the holy image of God. We want free and open debate, not speech codes and cancel culture. We embrace tolerance, not prejudice.” Where is the hatred and divisiveness in this?
“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they’re doing this, but some know what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive, but no, the American people are strong and proud and they will not allow our country and all of its values, history, and culture to be taken from them.
Donald Trump: (09:17)
One of their political weapons is cancel culture, driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and to our values and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.
Donald Trump: (10:24)
This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty must be stopped and it will be stopped very quickly. We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation’s children from this radical assault, and preserve our beloved American way of life. In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished. It’s not going to happen to us.
Donald Trump: (11:25)
Make no mistake. This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress. To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol, and memory of our national heritage.
Crowd: (12:08)
Not on my watch.
Donald Trump: (12:09)
True. That’s very true actually. That is why I am deploying federal law enforcement to protect our monuments, arrest the rioters, and prosecutors offenders to the fullest extent of the law.
Crowd: (12:28)
Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
Donald Trump: (12:48)
Thank you.
Donald Trump: (12:51)
I am pleased to report that yesterday, federal agents arrested the suspected ringleader of the attack on the statue of the great Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C., and in addition, hundreds more have been arrested. Under the executive order I signed last week pertaining to the Veterans Memorial Preservation Memorial and Recognition Act and other laws, people who damage or deface federal statues or monuments will get a minimum of 10 years in prison and obviously that includes our beautiful Mount Rushmore.
Donald Trump: (13:54)
Our people have a great memory. They will never forget the destruction of statues and monuments to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionists and many others. The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets and cities that are run by liberal Democrats in every case is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism, and other cultural institutions. Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies, all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition. This movement is openly attacking the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore. They defiled the memory of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Today we will set history and history’s record straight.”
Yeah, real unifying. He just demonized about half of the U.S., and it wasn’t just in passing. What I quoted was over 600 words.
I don’t see the divisiveness. The radical left needs to be called out for what they are attempting to do. The radical left cries tolerance but they are intolerant of those who do not agree with their views. But I doubt he “demonized” half the country. He also did call out the one or two percent — the uninformed and ignorant who are rioting, looting, and destroying public property and statues of saints over a completely misplaced sense of justice.
There is a valid reason to oppose Trump, but apparently only I know it because no one else has figured it out yet after all of this time. That flaw of his notwithstanding, I am going with him against the terrorists this November. (I voted for a pro-life pro-freedom third party candidate in 2016.)
Also, how close is modern Catholicism to the Catholicism of the New Testament? I see a big difference in what is emphasized. Do we expect the same results? Things pertaining to present Catholic identity seem to be of greater importance in today’s Catholicism.