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America’s Fall: The Modern-Day Roman Empire
Townhall.com ^ | September 2, 2013 | Matt Barber

Posted on 09/02/2013 10:53:13 AM PDT by Kaslin

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”(Ecclesiastes 1:9)

The Apostle Paul likely wrote his letter to the Romans about 25 years after Christ’s death and resurrection (sometime between A.D. 55-57). Throughout the book of Romans, Paul warned of God’s unfolding wrath against the Roman Empire – indeed, all of humanity – for mankind’s embrace and practice of pagan morality.

Approach Paul’s words with a modicum of objectivity and the reader is left with this dreadful realization: The words of Christ’s hand-picked messenger likewise paint an eerily accurate portrait of America, A.D. 2013. The negligible difference is that ancient pagan morality has been sanitized with a new euphemism: postmodern “progressivism.”

It is unbridled hubris that presumes America – lest she depart the wide path to ancient Rome – will not suffer that empire’s same fate.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them,” he wrote. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18-20)

Of course, an entire book could be written on this passage alone, but, essentially, Paul is noting that knowledge of God’s existence, eternal power, divine nature and moral law are self-evident. His truths are written on the hearts of every man, woman and child – Jew, Christian and pagan alike. Those who deny this reality are “without excuse.”

Yet, excuses we make.

Pull your eyes from your smartphone, America. Look around you. God’s wrath is “being revealed from heaven” once more.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:21-25)

Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun. Sexual impurity in all its ugly forms – fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, et al. – is celebrated by these “progressive” “fools.” American culture revels in the degrading of our bodies while purity is mocked. God has given us over to sinful desires.

Furthermore, while good earthly stewardship is a sound biblical principle, the pantheism and idolatry of which Paul warned (worship of creation and/or false idols over the Creator) prospers yet today in its contemporary, totalitarian forms: radical environmentalism and new ageism.

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones (lesbianism). In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-27)

Was Paul rebuking “progressives” on the U.S. Supreme Court, President Obama, liberals in Congress and other cheerleaders for these “shameful lusts” and “unnatural relations” – or was he just describing the disproportionately powerful and “inflamed-with-lust” homosexual lobby they represent?

Probably both.

Either way, God’s “due penalty” is non-discriminating. America’s official endorsement of “gay marriage,” “gay pride,” homosexualist indoctrination in our schools, “transgender” bathroom bills and bans on counseling to help with unwanted same-sex attraction will not end well.

Ask the Romans.

“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” (Romans 1:28-32)

Where to begin.

We have arrived. Shame on you, America. Our children – our adults – are depraved. They are “occupied” by envy. They attack innocent people, beating and killing them for sport. They murder one another in the streets without love or mercy. They disobey, gossip, slander and hate God. They are insolent, arrogant, boastful “little monsters.” They invent ways of doing evil. Hannah Montana is what America once was. MTV Miley is America today. She “evolved” because we “evolved.” You saw it on display. It’s ugly. It’s Satanic.

It’s “progressive.”

Still, though we have become a Romans 1 nation and, absent widespread spiritual revival, will fall as did Rome, those who embrace and follow truth – who is Jesus the Christ – are a Romans 8 people:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)

That’s the good news.

And that’s a column for another day.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: america; americanculture; fall; god; homonaziagenda; homosexualagenda; moralabsolutes; progressivism; religion; romanempire
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To: MSF BU

I had this album back in the day.

21 posted on 09/02/2013 11:59:28 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Othniel

Filthy Mainstream Dominant Culture:

Howard Stern
Miley Cyrus
Whoopi Goldberg
Cher
Mary Cheney
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Anderson Cooper
Rachel Maddow
Don Lemon
NARAL
Planned Parenthood
GLAAD/LGBT
Anglican & Lutheran Episcopy
NYTimes, LATimes, Washington Post
HBO
P-Diddy
Kadashians
Elton John
Melissa Ethridge
Madonna
Lady Gaga

Did I leave out any?


22 posted on 09/02/2013 12:11:17 PM PDT by Steelfish (ui)
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To: Steelfish

Justin Bieber.


23 posted on 09/02/2013 12:13:08 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Steelfish

How could you miss Jay-Z and Blowprah?


24 posted on 09/02/2013 12:13:48 PM PDT by nascarnation (Democrats control the Presidency, Senate, and Media. It's an uphill climb....)
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To: MSF BU

I believe his father wrote that.

I read it in theology school long ago, and lol’d.


25 posted on 09/02/2013 12:19:16 PM PDT by warchild9
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To: Vince Ferrer

That’s totally misleading. The population CALLING THEMSELVES ROMAN declined but the decline population was not nearly that Dramatic. Tet were known by other names like Britains, Saxons, Franks , etc.


26 posted on 09/02/2013 1:14:01 PM PDT by Kozak ("Send them back your fierce defiance! Stamp upon the cursed alliance! To arms, to arms.....")
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To: Impy
And of the makings of modern big government started way back in the 1910’s.

And even before that with the beginning of the destruction of the rights and power of the states in the 1860's.

27 posted on 09/02/2013 1:38:51 PM PDT by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
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To: Kaslin
Rome's fall was caused in large measure by it's "porous borders".

In about 195 AD, Septimius Severus, Rome's first African born Emperor pulled all the troops out of the the string of forts that guarded the frontier and sent them off to fight a war in Iraq against the Iranians. Illegal immigrants, Franks mostly at first, flooded across the borders. After the war with Iran attempts were made to expel them. This failed. The Roman elites were unwilling to spend the money or provide the sons to support the legions. Before 300 AD they had given the invaders land to settle on in Gaul and granted them amnesty - attracting more illegal immigrants...

Sound familiar?

28 posted on 09/02/2013 1:39:14 PM PDT by InABunkerUnderSF (Because 2 terms with Jerry Brown as Governor was all I could take.)
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To: Kozak
That’s totally misleading. The population CALLING THEMSELVES ROMAN declined but the decline population was not nearly that Dramatic. Tet were known by other names like Britains, Saxons, Franks , etc.

That might make it even more appropriate. We will find that people in this region will call themselves Aztlaners or muslims.

29 posted on 09/02/2013 2:29:05 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: Kaslin

The free love atmosphere and free for all sexuality will end as soon as one of the XDR (extra drug resistant) STD strains literally goes viral.
And unlike AIDS, it will cause untold misery without killing people. This means they XDR STDs will spread far and wide, while the afflicted are unknown unless health services actually returns to its core mission.
This creates a very strong reason to stay abstinent or faithful, because you don’t know who has it and really don’t want to get it.


30 posted on 09/02/2013 3:07:25 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: Steelfish
"Did I leave out any?"

Yep--Pelosi, Reno, Shalala, most members of Congress and many more.


31 posted on 09/02/2013 3:08:42 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: Kaslin



32 posted on 09/02/2013 3:12:11 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: Kozak; Vince Ferrer
The population CALLING THEMSELVES ROMAN declined but the decline population was not nearly that Dramatic. Tet were known by other names like Britains, Saxons, Franks , etc.

Post 6 references the population of the City of Rome, and is more or less accurate.

The population of Europe indeed crashed from 200 to 1000 AD, with massive areas returning to forest, but not by anything like 99%.

33 posted on 09/02/2013 3:17:07 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Mark Steyn: "In the Middle East, the enemy of our enemy is also our enemy.")
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To: DoughtyOne

just can’t believe how fast we went from Reagan to Clinton to Obama.

_____________________________

we went from Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama.

Gives it a different perspective. All downhill.


34 posted on 09/02/2013 3:23:02 PM PDT by Chickensoup (...We didn't love freedom enough...)
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To: Chickensoup

Yep, can’t argue with that.

You have to look at who the two Bush’s handed off too also.

The old man handed off to Clinton. Never should have lost that election.

The kid handed off to Obama in such a manner as to make it look like Conservatism was a failed political doctrine.

Nice move! /s


35 posted on 09/02/2013 3:35:51 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (This post coming to you today from behind the Camelskin Curtain. Not the Iron or Bamboo Curtain...)
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To: Kaslin

I had 5 years of Latin, much of it translating Roman history and biography.

When people compare ancient Rome to modern day America, it’s just silly, and completely pointless.


36 posted on 09/02/2013 3:42:36 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: zeestephen

When people compare ancient Rome to modern day America, it’s just silly, and completely pointless.

______________________________________________

are you saying this because they were completely different people with a different culture and worldview?


37 posted on 09/02/2013 3:43:50 PM PDT by Chickensoup (...We didn't love freedom enough...)
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To: zeestephen

Antique history was my favorite subject in school. I don’t remember any of this stuff though


38 posted on 09/02/2013 4:40:14 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Vince Ferrer
"Rome wasn't sacked in a day"

-P2

39 posted on 09/02/2013 5:56:33 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: mjp

I knew someone would say that.

I’m not a neo-confederate, so I’m not with you there.


40 posted on 09/02/2013 7:14:05 PM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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