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God warned the ancient Israelites that if they turned away from Him in disobedience of His laws, He would bring national curses upon them in judgment and to lead them to repentance. One of these was "I will break the pride of your power" (Leviticus 26:19). As America goes the way of ancient Israel in its rejection of God and His ways, we see such curses increasing everywhere we look. Our leaders and many who support them are bringing destruction on the whole nation, including themselves.
For instance, it was reported this summer that the Pentagon "is putting national security at risk and ordering the U.S. Army to begin purging its ranks of more than 60,000 U.S. soldiers who have thus far refused to take any of the coronavirus vaccines" (Western Journal, July 8, 2022). Those removed from active duty include many pilots, special warfare operators and other personnel with specialized training that cost millions of dollars.
This is one of many reasons military recruitment is severely down. With the end of the recruiting year rapidly approaching, the U.S. Army as of this writing is less than halfway to its recruiting goal -- and that after lowering a number of previous standards. The pool of recruits is also much smaller, with three out of four American 17- to 24-year-olds ineligible due to obesity or other health issues, criminal history or lack of education.
Another factor is the increasingly woke focus. Military leaders have stated that the greatest threats to U.S. security are not Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Islamic terrorists, but climate change and domestic white supremacists.
Several U.S. military bases recently held events featuring drag queens (and backlash forced the cancellations of others that were planned). The U.S. Navy is putting out training videos emphasizing how Navy personnel should be careful to use people's chosen gender pronouns -- something you won't see in Chinese military preparedness. A recent CIA recruiting ad featured a self-proclaimed "cisgender millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder" who "used to struggle with imposter syndrome" -- who else to better protect national security?
U.S. forces were successful in finally taking out al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 plotter Ayman al-Zawahiri by a drone strike on July 31 as he stood on a balcony in Afghanistan -- but that raises the issue of how he was able to live openly in Afghanistan. It's because since America's disastrous pullout, leaving behind $85 billion in advanced weaponry, that state is now again a haven for al-Qaeda.
As White House reporter Peter Doocy challenged National Security Council coordinator John Kirby: "So we know that the Taliban was harboring the world's most wanted terrorists. You guys gave a whole country to a bunch of people who are on the FBI Most Wanted list. What did you think was going to happen?" Kirby took issue with that premise.
America is increasingly a country in decline. It's plagued with the highest inflation level in more than 40 years. Having lost its energy independence, it now has the highest energy costs in its history. Crime and homelessness are rampant. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea grow increasingly belligerent and threatening. Its southern borders are invaded by millions of illegal immigrants, aided by drug cartels that are making billions of dollars through drug, sex and migrant trafficking.
This is heartbreaking reality. Maybe some of the slide can be stopped. But there is so much wrong -- and much more than what is mentioned here. Of course, God will help any nation that turns to him. And even if the nation doesn't, you can seek Him and find Him. He will intervene for you personally. And the good news beyond the bad is that God has a plan to turn this nation and all nations to Him and His ways. The darker the world gets, know that a new day is coming, as this issue details. To learn more, download or request our free study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.
As we addressed in our last issue, so much of society now hinges on the purveying of LGBTQ values -- including the promotion of drag queens to innocent children, such as "drag queen story hour" as part of library reading programs.
What is most disturbing about this is not merely the attempt to normalize alternative orientations, but the pushing of overt sexual expression on young kids. Men in drag are not simply wearing women's clothes, which God calls an abomination (Deuteronomy 22:5). They are engaging in flamboyant exhibitionism for sexual thrill -- and here it's perpetrated against children. Until very recently that was rightfully viewed as a crime.
But so many of our government leaders are all in with this movement. Speaking before a civil rights conference in June, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel mocked concerns over this, stating to a laughing audience:
"You know what's not a problem for kids who are seeking a good education? Drag queens. Okay? So let me say this: Drag queens, not only are they not hurting our kids, drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun! Drag queens are entertainment. And you know what else I'll say that was totally not poll-tested? I say this: a drag queen for every school! That is what would be fine for a kid and lift them up when they're having emotional issues." This from the chief law enforcement officer of a U.S. state.
In the same month, "pride month," U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made her second guest appearance on a well-known TV drag show and stated: "It is my honor to be here to say to all of you how proud we all are of you. Thank you for the joy and beauty you bring to the world. Your freedom of expression of yourselves in drag is what America is all about. I say that all the time to my friends in drag."
She then repeated this on Twitter. Yes, the third-highest officeholder in the country says drag exhibition is what America is all about!
Not to be left out, the second-highest officeholder, Vice President Kamala Harris, went on stage at a Capitol Pride event with a drag queen winner of that same show and posted a picture of her hugging him with the words "Love is love. Happy Pride!"
Yet is overt sexual exhibitionism really love? Think of gay pride parades that devolve into vulgar and graphic sexual spectacles. To object is to be accused of hate. Increasingly, it seems that this is indeed what America and other Western nations are being forced and groomed to be about.
Our foreign policy experts even proclaim that our commitment to this supposed liberty is what sets us apart from backward authoritarian states. A recently highlighted Brookings Institution article that originally appeared in The Washington Post three years ago is titled: "What does a Pride parade have to do with NATO? More than you might think" (June 28, 2019).
A summary note states: "The degree of respect for LGBTQ people has increasingly become a measure of democratic health in former Soviet states. If Russia were a place where Pride parades were allowed, its quarrels with the United States, and ours with it, would possibly diminish." Read that again. It is unbelievable.
How have we arrived at such an insane place? The fact is, unseen spiritual forces are operating behind the scenes of this world. Be sure to read "Where Does Evil Come From?".
June 24, 2022 was a historic day. The infamous Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1973 that legalized abortion throughout America was, after 49 years, at last overturned. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the former decision and repeated affirmations of it were egregiously wrong in terms of being an overreach and abuse of judicial authority.
There never was a right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, as many imagine. The new decision returns the matter of abortion to the people and their elected representatives. This was a monumental and positive change -- that will result in many lives saved.
On the other hand, this decision does not outlaw abortion. It leaves that up to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress. While some states will severely restrict and even ban abortion altogether, others are expected to remove restrictions all the way up to birth. Some governors have said they will be sanctuary states for abortion, even paying for people of other states to travel there to have abortions. President Biden and other liberal politicians would like to codify abortion protection into U.S. law, but that seems unlikely to happen right now.
In the weeks before the decision and afterward, protestors thronged the streets outside of Supreme Court justices' homes, even though such intimidation is forbidden in criminal law, but the current administration allowed it to go on. One disturbed man traveled there intent on assassinating Justice Brett Kavanaugh, part of the court's conservative majority, to keep Roe from being overturned. The man had even stated that he intended to take three justices out -- which would have drastically reshaped the court and with it the country.
The mainstream media has said very little about this, whereas if the man was intending to kill liberal progressive justices that would no doubt be trumpeted out repeatedly. This incident shows how precarious our justice system is. We all need to be praying for God's protection and direction.
Sadly, the scourge of abortion remains a terrible evil throughout America and much of the world. May God bring the day when no more innocents will be slaughtered by a wayward civilization.
According to recent polling, the number of Americans who believe in God and the Bible as God's Word is at an all-time low.
The May 2022 Gallup Values and Beliefs poll showed that 81 percent of American adults believe in God, down 6 percent from 2017 -- with 17 percent saying they do not believe in any God, and 2 percent unsure. This is a far cry from the 1950s and 60s, when 98 percent of U.S. adults believed in God. In 2011 it was 92 percent.
A Gallup poll from 2018-2020 showed that 47 percent belong to a religious congregation, down from more than 71 percent over the course of the 1930s to the 1980s.
A record-low 20 percent now say the Bible is the literal Word of God, down from 24 percent in 2017 and half the number from the 1980s. A new high of 29 percent see the Bible as a collection of fables, legends, history and manmade moral precepts -- the first time those who view it as uninspired outnumber those who regard it as God's Word. Among Christians, only 25 percent regard it as God's literal Word, while a majority (58 percent) say it's inspired but not to all be taken literally -- with another 16 percent viewing it as an ancient book of fables.
Younger people are leading these statistics. A 2021 Arizona Christian University poll found that more millennials believe in guidance from horoscopes (35 percent) than those who believe that all people have the purpose of knowing, loving and serving God with all their heart (19 percent). Our society is in real trouble.
For those who understand the truth, is it any wonder that so much is going wrong in our culture? To help ground you more in the reality of God and His Word, we recommend reading our free study guides Life's Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? and Is the Bible True? Nothing is more important than the answers to these questions!
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