The Bible tells us that a person has a soul, and that the soul has three main subdivision: the mind, the will and the emotions. This is who a man is and what makes him a unique individual. The Bible also teaches us that each man has a conscience, and that within that conscience indigenously is a basic sense of right and wrong. On the day of Elohim’s judgment, those who follow their moral conscience and do what is right will be judged more favorably than those who don’t (Rom 2:13–16).
As a man has a conscience, so does nation, which is comprised of many men. Several words reflect the conscience of a nation. For example, the word mores is “the essential or characteristic customs or fixed morally binding customs or conventions of a community.” Another word would be ethos, which means “the characteristic spirit of a culture, era or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.” Based on the mores or ethos of a people-group, that group, community or nation will form laws by which it will govern itself. In America, from its founding 240 years ago until recently, the Bible and Christianity influenced the conscience of individuals and the collective conscience of the nation. America’s founding documents — the Constitution and state constitutions — reflected a definite biblical, if not Christian, world-view. This was the ethos of the society.
America, presently, has been described by many as a “post-Christian” nation. It would seem that those who assert that it is still a Christian nation are focusing on America’s past state rather than her present state. That is not to say that there are not still many Bible believers who walk out their faith in America. They are just no longer the majority; a Christian or biblical world-view is no longer the dominant ethos reflecting the core mores of the majority of Americans. The proof of this is to simply look at the spiritual and moral values those individuals our society votes into office to rule over them from the president on down.
Now let’s define another term that is becoming more and more apropos to the times in which we are living. That word is barbarism. Barbarism (derived from the word barbarian), is defined as “the condition to which a society or civilization may be reduced after a societal collapse relative to an earlier period of cultural or technological advancement. This term may also be used pejoratively to describe another society or civilization which is deemed inferior in some way.”
Is America descending into a culture of neo-barbarism or heathenism? Let’s look at some indication that show this is likely the case. Continue reading →
