British historian and philosopher of history Arnold Toynbee, whose 12-volume A Study of History put forward a philosophy of history based on an analysis of the cyclical development and decline of civilizations, chronicles, “Religion [belief in an infinite God] amounts to a cultural glue which holds the civilization together. There is thus a close relationship between religions and civilizations.”
In one of Toynbee’s many interviews, the research professor of international history at the University of London shared, “I came to believe religion is the important thing in life. Religion is something that gives meaning and purpose to life. I think without religion, life would all be a bad joke.”
Francis Schaeffer writes, “Roman jurisdiction [void of an infinite Creator] could no longer keep order. Armed gangs terrorized the city of Rome and the normal functions of government were disrupted as rivals fought for power. Self-interest took the place of social interest, no matter how sophisticated the trappings, and eventually apathy became the chief mark of the period. The elite abandoned intellectual life for their social life.
“And as the Roman economy slumped lower and lower, burdened by a costly government and by inflation, authoritarianism increased in order to try to outmaneuver the apathy. As fewer people were inclined to work, the state usurped expanded authority, and more freedoms were lost. As their empire ground down, the Romans and their decadence were given to a great thirst for violence. Even their music became bombastic.”
Schaeffer concludes, “Culture and the freedoms of men are fragile. If there’s not a sufficient base, it only takes time–and often not a great deal of time–before there is a collapse.
“Rome collapsed, not from external but from internal weaknesses.”
I have often referenced Abraham Lincoln’s prophetic words–which bear repeating here–“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
Grievously, there are those who are hell-bent on our destruction; it’s not about reform . . . it’s about decimating a free peoples’ Nation.
Renowned theologian Fulton J. Sheen, once counseled, “The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
The Apostle Paul, ironically writing to the church in Rome during the reign of the Emperor Nero, admonished, “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” –Romans 12:1-2 MSG
Ill conclude with a timely excerpt from Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation:
“We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics. At times the column is editorial in nature.
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