Our Changing World
By
Frances L. Carroll
© 2002
Time was when the call went out, "The British are coming, the British are coming," alerted patriots to the call to arms. A great deal has changed in our homeland since those who came before us wrote and framed the Declaration of Independence.
In June 2002 the California Supreme Court determined the words "under God" in our pledge of allegiance to be unconstitutional. A wave of anger rippled through our land. People wondered what this meant to the nation. Who would dare remove those precious words from our pledge? The truth is the phrase "under God" has been little more than lip service in the lives of the majority of the people for some time now. We, who are Christians, live among a people who have become rebellious against God, seeking instead, our own selfish ambitions. The fact is Americans has been running away from God and seeking to please self for a long time.
A significant amount of history has been made since 1954 when we really did want to be "One nation, under God. Here are a few of the footprints left in the history of our nation since I was a young girl:
(1) Little country churches are dying away, being replaced by "Mega churches"
(2) War in Korea
(3) New style of music introduced called "Rock n Roll"
(4) Television flourishes
(5) Continent to continent air travel becomes a reality
(6) New "revised" versions of the Bible are introduced. Amplified Bible makes newer translation of Scriptures easier to understand.
(7) Space flights begin
(8) Man goes to the moon and walks on it
(9) Color television
(10) Mini-skirts become fashion
(11) More sex in the movies
(12) Censors allow four letter words in movies and on television
(13) Public nudity and bikinis are acceptable
(14) Spring break becomes a time to get drunk, have sex and "Do your own thing"
(15) President Kennedy murdered by assassins
(16) Martin Luther King Jr. is murdered
(17) Civil rights laws are introduced and carried out
(18) Going to college is no longer for the rich or influential
(19) Drugs are brought into the US and become the favorite past time of many
(20) "Do your own thing" becomes a lifestyle in many sections of USA
(21) Life becomes meaningless in many areas and rape, murder, robbery, drugs, alcohol and other vices become commonplace.
(22) Lasers and high-speed technology are introduced
(23) People resist God in home, work place and in society as the nation turns toward self for self pleasures
(24) Presidents, Prince's, and people in high authority show what our world has become immoral.
(25) Abortion become common place and acceptable participants claim fetus is not a human being
(26) Drugs and drug dealing is common place in most every town and city across the nation
(27) Critics make open fun and ridicule "Christians" for their beliefs
(28) Vietnam era deeply scars our nation and men and women everywhere as peace demonstrations occur
(29) People find more pleasure in "toys" and "material" possessions. Whoever has the most toys when they die is a winner. Common trend has become there is no "hell" and the Bible doesn't mean anything to the multitudes.
(30) The "NEW AGE" movement sneaks into our lifestyles. More and more people are swallowed up in a "shallow belief" or "no belief" system
(31) Many main line ministers give up preaching the gospel, replacing it with "feel good" Messages. Some replace the gospel with "feel good lifestyle" in the church, stating that God really doesn't punish us and Jesus really didn't die for our sins. Jesus, they say, "Was a good man and a prophet, nothing more." Then they produce other testaments and revelations that mislead multitudes as fine temples and churches are built to glorify something other than the Lord.
(32) Computers, the Internet and the world at our fingertips begins
(33) Flower Power a time when people turned toward sex and drugs for substitute happiness
(34) The Interstate travel system opens up cross country travel
(35) The microwave become popular
(36) Radio serials and entertainment dies away as people turn on and tune in to programs from places we only dream of like New York City
(37) RV's become popular and America hits the road
(38) The Cuban blockade is a major influence on our lifestyles
(39) Nuclear weapons and nerve gas are introduced as fighting tools
(40) The Russians vow to over take America
(41) Indoor plumbing
(42) Air conditioning in the home and business
(43) Suburb living becomes a reality
(44) Easy access to credit cards
(45) Cars, once a rich persons transportation become more affordable for the rest of us
(46) City and state governments take a tough stance on crime
(47) Motels pop up all around the country to encourage people to travel
(48) Fast food restaurants open up and people like them
(49) Wine coolers, "Billy beer", beer by the case and a variety of alcohol become available in grocery stores, service stations, etc.
(50) Shopping centers spring up all across the nation
Many of the items on this list are "good things" but others are not. To me, this list represents a great transformation in our society. For those of you who see this list as "history" many who are reading this article right now have lived through these times and more. We have seen our world change from life in isolated areas to people living door to door with one another. The peace and quiet we took for granted is passing way, replaced with noise, pollution, and violence. I feel sure that history will dub the pre- WWII children as the information generation for the drastic changes made within our lifetime. Instead of living in little settlements, small cities, and on the farm we became a people moving into the suburbs. Sadly, scores of people allowed these changes to keep from seeking a personal relationship with God.
It seems to me that we shouldn't be as alarmed over the removal of two words from a pledge of allegiance, as we should by the removal of the Lord from our lives. So few people, Christians included, really understand anything about God and they are pretenders of the faith.
Our world is constantly changing and we change with it. Day in and day out we are called upon to decide whether or not to put our hands in the hands of the Lord. Instead of worrying about what will happen in the United Nations we need to determine what we want in life. Christians ask you, "Is my life committed to following in the footsteps of Jesus or am I a pretender of the faith?" We rebuild our nation under God by first becoming a person under God influence and control. We turn away from selfish and empty ambitions, which have no eternal value, and we turn back to God. It's time to commit our ways to the Lord and seek Him in all we do. God waits to bless us as a people and a nation but we must first return to Him.
