# 186: The State of America

President Bush gave his State of the Union presentation on January 23, 2007. The next day, on the national news, Brian Williams, NBC news anchor, said that all the combined viewers of NBC, CBS and ABC watching the President’s message did not equal the viewers of “American Idol.” That vividly tells what the state of the union really is. [That is not a verbatim quote].

The $64,000 question: What is happening in America to cause this shocking trend? Which is to say, why is “American Idol” of greater importance to that many Americans than what Bush had to say about the condition of our country? No doubt there are many answers, but is there one theme under which all these different answers could go under?

I believe most people, even if many of them might have been the younger generation, would rather watch “American Idol”; they knew just about what was going to be said by Bush and they just didn’t want to hear it; he was going to attempt to cover his tush concerning the Iraq war and distract the viewers’ attention by telling us what a great, strong and wonderful country we live in, and by talking about a lot of other major concerns that he would fix in the next two years, such as Medicare, Social Security, the environment and rising healthcare costs. Ha!

The biggest problem with this country is that we have Bush as president. I have heard it said several times, and I truly believe it, that Bush has personally done more harm to this great country than any other president or any other action we have ever taken. In fact, I believe he is the worst president we have ever elected, even worse that Nixon, Clinton, etc. Many people won’t say it in so many words, but his miserable approval rating says it for them.

As I have already written several times in other posts, the one thing that enrages me is that this Bush claims to be a born-again Christian; also, that he has the backing of many naive/gullible “evangelicals.” Bush’s religious actions are the greatest crimes that can be committed against our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is a lover; for that reason, He preached love for neighbor and even our enemies. That is the example every disciple of His must follow. Could you see Jesus Christ sending America to fight any war, let alone a war that really was none of our personal business? What does that do to the rest of us who are genuine born-again disciples? He has dragged us so low into the mire of disgust in the eyes of nonbelievers and other religions that the image of Christ may never recover, not to mention the reputation of America.

What is most important to Bush is his legacy, not taking the right action to get our boys and girls out as soon as possible from getting killed in a civil war which has little or nothing to do with us except our occupation of Iraq. It was a super gigantic mistake, to say the least, to start an unnecessary and nonsensical war, and now he wants to somehow convert his stupid blunder into a win. Never! Logic says it is impossible to take a gigantic wrong and turn it into something good.

Now, apart from Bush’s blunder and back to the condition of America and the reason for it . . . The downhill slide of this great country—my country—gained footing between late 1941 and 1945; that was during the 2nd World War. In order to help win this war on two fronts, we drafted just about every male 18 years or older. We amassed an army of several million. With many men and young men away from home, the only possible way we could build the weapons of war for the Allies and ourselves was to somehow entice women to do the work of the missing men.

Now, for the first time in American history, women were working in three shifts alongside men. Almost anyone can guess the outcome: These hard-working women, without their men to comfort them and share a place in their bedroom, naturally got lonely. These mothers, wives and single women became easy prey for any man who wasn’t drafted; that was a great opportunity to take advantage of their female coworkers' vulnerability. This is the first time in American history that marital unfaithfulness accelerated in gigantic proportions. And you can imagine the repercussions when the husbands, boyfriends, etc. came home.

Now back to 2007. The one theme that runs America, with the world following, is money, sex and the desire for fame. Also, an excellent barometer of what America is all about is what type of programming is the most popular on television and the silver screen. From a Godly perspective, with TV and movies as indicators, a large portion of the population in America is emerged in a demonic course. Even much programming on public television is less than conducive to the up-building of moral character.

Another factor is the insipid way the organized Christian religion is presented; one does not have to be even a baby Einstein to know it is not for real. The younger generation can see through the falsehood of what churches are presenting, and what they are all about: $$$. So where do they go in an attempt to find meaning in life? Of course, to the most available source: the fantasy (make-believe) world of television, movies, DVDs, video games, etc.

Another factor that has and will continue to drag America into the pits of hell is how sex is presented, to the point where sexual intercourse is a normal thing for young unmarried boys and girls to engage in. They say, “To keep one’s virginity until marriage is old-fashioned.” The truth is, many girls don’t intend to get married until later in life or not at all. They say, “Why should we abstain from one of life’s great pleasures? Just because Mother or the Bible says so?”

When the young, not to exclude adults, are involved in sex apart from marriage, that is bad enough in itself, but there comes with that casual, promiscuous action which is without plan or purpose) more destructive consequences that make it much more grievous: marital problems when getting married, addiction to sex, sexually transmitted disease, drugs, alcohol, crime, disregard for many laws in later life, and much, much more.

This is the part that makes it unstoppable: It is acceptable and given the okay sign in most avenues of life. A society cannot continue to exist for long in these circumstances. Live for today and don’t think about future repercussions. It undermines all that is or could be good and decent. That is where America is now and is continually heading further downhill.

So what happened to “America the Beautiful”? Does Jesus Christ look at America (its people) as a beautiful and holy country? Absolutely not! The sad thing about it is that this country is looked upon by many nations as a Christian country since it was founded on Christian principles, with at least 300,000 “christian” pulpits. Oh, what a disgrace to the Creator.

Cheating and lying in schools and universities is out of control. High-tech internet fraud and identity theft are growing and getting much more sophisticated. Our government is at a point where voters don’t trust most elected officials: The Jack Abramoff scandal is exposing the rotten stuff going on in Congress—a lot more to surface—along with the Mark Foley ordeal and not a single congressional umpire, including house speaker Dennis Hastert, being accused/indicted of wrongdoing in turning a blindeye to Foley’s conduct with young pages. Finally, the ethics of our most trusted officials in government are now coming into question by the House Ethics Committee.

One of the most ungodly and unfair practices in this country is the exorbitant prices hospitals and most doctors charge, along with the excessive, budget-busting fees lawyers charge. They go to school a few years more than most students and then for the rest of their lives become legal thieves to those who need their services (the uninsured) even though many can’t afford them. I have a good Christian friend who went to law school for about eight years. He practiced law for about 15 years. Then he quit the law business when his practice was in conflict with his Christian morals. That goes to show that to be a “good” lawyer, one has to walk a crooked path. Also, I heard a story of an old man who, after getting his doctor bill, was super shocked at the doctor’s fee. He said to the surgeon, “Why are you charging me so much for just a two-hour operation?” Surgeon: “Do you realize how much it cost me to go to college?” Old man: “Excuse me. You want me to pay for your whole education with my two-hour operation?.” There is some truth to that story.

“Freedom and justice for all.” Sure! The rich get leniency or get off easy, while the poor, especially minorities, must pay with a long sentence because they end up getting a public defender; they couldn’t afford a high-priced, slick-mouthed attorney. Is that justice?

Lastly, with the million or so “christians” in America that regularly go to a church building, how many OBEY what is taught by Jesus Christ in the New Testament? 1st Corinthians 7-19: “Keeping God’s commands is what counts”; several dozen more verses proclaim the same principle of obedience as a must. I will bet anyone my bottom dollar that not many know what is expected of them as disciples of Christ. They just don’t care, or meekly believe whatever the preachers teach. Just remember this: Every person who claims to be a Christian is also a disciple of Jesus Christ; they are one in the same. For more info. on what a disciple is, click on # 179: “Disciple”: The Forgotten Word and the House Church.

The last few paragraphs tell only a small part of the deplorable condition of our great country. You say, “Let us forget all our faults and just keep singing ‘God Bless America.’” Give me one legitimate reason why God would bless a country like ours, even without mentioning Bush’s ungodly actions. Come on, now; I want to hear your rebuttals. If I am wrong, tell me. That is the reason for this blog; it tells what is seldom mentioned in churches and elsewhere. Just remember, this is my country, and before I knew better, I used to love it. But I can’t anymore. In its stead, I now give my allegiance to Jesus Christ.

Now on the positive side concerning the spirituality of our great, strong and much-desired country, where some foreigners believe our streets are paved with gold . . . I am sorry to say, according to the New Testament, that I don’t believe there are many, if any, things that are happening in which God receives glory. No doubt we are generous when disasters, etc. happen to others. That is good, but the only problem is that God and Jesus Christ are left out in the cold and are seldom or never mentioned or given credit for our goodness. Please—if anyone knows of any noteworthy, holy, and Godly things which are happening in America, and God is given full credit, apart from what organized religion is doing, please make it known.

I expect to receive a good number of revolting responses. The reason is many of us may feel it is anti-American to speak against their country. That may be the reason few if any have the spiritual audacity/nerve to repeat, or let alone, publish our true condition as written in this post.