“And he did evil in the sight of Jehovah, as his father Manasseh had done" (II Kings 21:20).</p>
<p>If one looks at present-day American culture, one will undeniably see a civilization in its geo-political twilight, one which is, as far as morality is concerned, already six feet under the cold earth, long since eulogized, the weeping crowd having despondently departed, with future visitations uncertain.  America's tombstone shall be a mighty, massive monument to her once world-famous decadence, her offal-smelling political theatre, her feints of global superiority from lazily resting upon laurels.  Take comfort America-lovers, Patriots, you hearty scions of Minutemen and Buffalo Soldiers, for this is written with a heavy heart, with fear, with trembling of one who loves the United States of America strongly.  Yes, I love my country and I love her enough to not turn a blind eye to her depravity.</p>
<p>Th United States has been in a continuous slide downward into the valley of impotence, and that cannot be disputed.  Some might say that this is just a “dry spell,” just a “bump in the road” or even that the collective losing of our scruples should rather be interpreted as our ascent onto the mountain peak of intellectual freedom, the loosing of old-world shackles of outmoded, sexist, oppressive traditional code.  Obviously opinions will vary about our beloved country's true moral condition. Facts, however, cannot be argued against. Just this week, I read in the Chicago Tribune of a 14-year-old boy's being beaten into a coma by a vicious street gang in Logan Square. Gang violence in our cities is sky-rocketing. Teen pregnancy has become an epidemic, partially because young ladies have not been effectively taught how to properly measure potential suitors against in-home, upstanding, hard-working men. The father is supposed to be the bar. The husband and father is to be ever-present exemplar of discipline, honor, and self-control. Over the past few decades, the absence of fathers and husbands in the home has invariably led to today's broken and battered society.</p>
<p>The attraction of quick money, combined with duress are two huge contributors to young men joining gangs, but I had parents, particularly a strong father who I feared infinitely more than any gangster or gangbanger, and my old neighborhood was replete with them. My father being there was a tremendous check against the pull of a life that I was not destined nor designed to live, and it is has been my father who has been my model after which I have patterned my work ethic and self-discipline.</p>
<p>The Bible verse at the opening of this post concerns the reign of King Amon, son of King Manasseh. King Manasseh was the son and heir of a righteous king, Hezekiah who obeyed the commandments of the Lord and fought a valiant war against a storm of idolatry that chronically threatened to sweep through the nation and ensure the devastating impact of the hammer of God's judgment on the land. If Hezekiah was so righteous, why was his son Manasseh and his grandson Amon so wicked? The Bible says in II Chronicles 33:9 that Manasseh had caused the people of Judah to do more evil than the pagan nations that had been driven out of the land before them. All of the reforms Hezekiah had instituted that were in perfect line with Jewish law he reversed. How? Why was Hezekiah the king so effective, but Hezekiah the father so ineffective? This is one of the main ailments that plagues the United States of America- fathers who are are like absentee landlords.
The rapidity of our society's breakdown, I believe, is due to the failure of men to hold back the corruption that inherently lurks under the surface of all societies. Fathers in particular are charged with the solemn duty to raise their sons and daughters to valiantly hold the line of morality and to advance high standards, thereby preserving and improving society. Hezekiah, for whatever reason, did not make sure that his sons would walk in the way of God's Law. Ultimately, their society unraveled, shown in the wickedness and depravity of the people, merely following the example set by their leadership.
Men have allowed their sons and daughters to be raised by the unscrupulous entertainers and musicians of the day, and they themselves are becoming enslaved by the constant stream of sexually explicit and pornograhic material flowing through every media outlet, and the “sins of the fathers” are passed on to the children. Men, who have exhausted incalculable energies in careers and various pursuits, garnered numerous acolades aren't making the same investments into the lives of their children, nieces and nephews, the children of their neighborhoods. As a result, we are losing everything. Without spiritual strength, every battle against each volley of societal and familial decay will be lost. Without men who stand tall and strong, determined not to give in, the children will continue to be killed, abused, raised by television and movies. All the righteous work of King Hezekiah had, by the time of his grandson Amon, been forgotten and undone. Amon, as a result of the unfettered life of immorality and moral relativism, had been killed by his own servants. Our children are also being cut down in youth. Amon was twenty-two when he became king and was assassinated at age twenty-four. Sound familiar? How many news headlines could any one of us pull up recounting the tragic death of a young man? If the men of the United States do not get in their rightful positions as servant-leaders of their homes and communities, empowered by God Himself, there will no longer be a United States of America on earth.
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