Family life in the 1940s and 1950s was viewed as being complicated as WWII drew to an end and family life began to blossom again. Men returned home, which affected the family togetherness and stability, and women returned to traditional roles. This shift in culture enabled families to spend more time together.
In our family, we bonded with our parents in ways that seem foreign in today’s fast-paced world. We attended religious services together, during the week we discussed our faith at home, prayed together and had bible study. The moral virtues that were taught led to a foundation that is essential for ethical behavior and personal growth.
America’s greatness depends on God’s sacred Word and biblical principles that were taught in our schools and the family in past generations. Our founding fathers acknowledged God’s role in the establishment of America. Our Declaration of Independence states that our rights are endowed by our Creator.
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that mandatory Bible reading and prayer in public schools violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. This decision removed the Bible from America’s classrooms, ending a practice that had been common since the nation’s founding. More than a legal shift, it marked a rupture in America’s spiritual foundation, as the Bible had long served as a cornerstone of the nation’s public life.
Church attendance in America has dropped sharply over time. In the 1950s, nearly 70% of Americans attended church regularly; by the 2000s, that number had fallen to about 32%. Today, estimates suggest that only about 20% attend weekly. At the same time, God and His word have increasingly been removed from homes and schools.
We are living in an age of deception. Our hearts and minds have been blinded, and what God called sacred is often treated as common. Children, whom the Lord declares to be a heritage and a blessing (Psalm 127:3), are too often regarded as burdens, and even terminated, or cast aside as though they were expendable.
Marriage, ordained by God from the beginning as a holy covenant between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24), is being redefined according to the desires of man rather than the design of the Creator.
Even the distinction between male and female, established by God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:27), is being reshaped by human will instead of being honored as part of God’s creation. Truth is being twisted and rejected, and evil is being called good while good is being called evil.
The threat to our Constitution and founding documents is becoming increasingly clear as the Democratic Socialists of America gain influence with a platform that would weaken the separation of powers by replacing the President and Supreme Court, abolish the Senate and Electoral College.
The foundation beneath us has not simply shifted; it has been deliberately taken and redefined. Today’s dominant ideas about identity and self are not harmless alternatives to Christian conviction, they are direct assaults on it.
Our Christian belief system, our moral and ethical guidance, God’s Holy Word, our Creator, our Constitution, our Republic and our Liberty are all at risk of being destroyed.
With God’s sacred word in their hearts, our founding fathers helped establish America. To protect that word, we must understand it, share it faithfully and live by its principles through prayer, the study of Scripture and obedience to God’s truth. If we fail to defend this foundation, we risk losing the very liberty God entrusted to us.
God gave us America and it is our sacred duty and responsibility to protect and keep it.
Jim Coonrod is a retired Marine and active gardener. He lives in Collinsville.