I wrote this essay several years ago on what I see as a cultural decline in the nation. Not sure if I ever posted a version of this or not. But it is relevant due to the thread (Homesteading Spinofff-History). I didn't jsut type this out, it was a cut and paste from my previous journal. With a few additions.

*******


Secular Humanism…the undoing of our nation.
By Mike Strayer

Why is our society slipping away from its decency? Why is there such propagation of decline, decay and deterioration within the fabric of our culture? Doesn’t it seem like over the past few decades things have gotten worse at a faster pace? Are there any milestones out there that signal the start of the rapid decline? In a nutshell, it is all related to the systematic removal of God and Biblical principles from the hearts and minds of the citizenry.

Sin, corruption, evil, crime, immorality have always existed since the fall of man. If you don’t believe in the Bible, then for you it has just always existed since the beginning of humanity. The point: bad people doing bad stuff have been around a long time. But doesn’t it feel like our society is drifting faster than previous American and even global societies? Wars have been fought all over for years, bad people doing bad things for centuries upon centuries, so it has always existed. It seemed isolated to particular areas or particular evil rulers. But today there is this overwhelming feeling that the core of decency is vanishing in the hearts and minds of the population, globally and here in the USA. Are there any evidences that tell us if that is true?

From my perspective and from my opinion, at the heart and center of this deterioration lie several events and shifts in culture that are directly related to the troubled society and issues we have today.

Atheist Progressive Indoctrination of Evolutionary and Secular Humanistic Thought:
In the later 1800’s Atheist Progressive Evolutionists and Secular Humanists sparked by the works of Darwin and others decided to challenge the widely held belief worldwide that God created the Earth and everything in the Universe. Factually, Darwin was also influenced by the earliest humanists who entered academia in England and France. Now not everyone had the same religious faith or had the same ideas of god, but the common thread existed globally that there was a Creator God. These Atheist Progressives and Secular Humanists decided that the key to changing this widespread belief wasn’t to attach the various religions, but to begin a slow and easy indoctrination within education. Their ideas were based on a secular humanist worldview: there is no God, there are no moral absolutes, we are all products of evolution, and there is no clear meaning to life. It began in the elite universities where Darwinian Theory and other secular philosophies ideas were taught to elite students seeking to be academics and scientists. Those students eventually became leaders, scientists, professors and teachers who continued to pass this along...knowing they were part of the Atheist Progressive movement. Slowly over the course of a few decades, most college level campuses had quite a number of like-minded professors…even in the elite college preparatory schools. Given another decade or two, it reached public universities and high schools, middle schools and elementary schools as the academic curriculum and textbook industry was deeply rooted in this new wave of social/political thought. The design was to systematically infiltrate the education system in order to teach students these “modern” new secular ways of thinking. They succeeded.

It would be an outrage to not speak on the key role that John Dewey (noted philosopher, education reformer, Dewy decimal system guy). This man is more responsible for the rise in secular humanistic thought in America than any other source. As an atheist and socialist, Dewey co-authored the revolutionary, anti-God, Humanist Manifesto 1 in 1934. How did he create such change? He instructed teachers and leaders to change the American educational system. By systematically, over years of training, reprogramming students to reject their core values taught by the church and their parents and accept moral relativism. Dewey knew that in order to implement their goals they would have to de-emphasize traditional education and concentrate on the student’s beliefs and values. These new standards are based on the presupposition that there are no moral absolutes and no right or wrong (moral relativism). An effective method for achieving this was to train teachers and academic leaders to begin the indoctrination in the new ways of education and a push toward today’s institutional schooling and group thought. The end result is this: Secularist humanists have commandeered the public education system in America and are using it to instill their own set of values and beliefs.
What does Secular Humanism really look like? Here are some quotes in chronological order that show the progression:

“(Our) great object was to get rid of Christianity, and to convert our
churches into halls of science. The plan was not to make open attacks on
religion...but to establish a system of state schools, from which all
religion was to be excluded...and to which all parents were to be
compelled by law to send their children. For this purpose, a secret society
was formed and the whole country was to be organized.” Orestes
Brownson (1803-1876)


“What the church has been for medieval man, the public school must
become for democratic and rational man. God would be replaced by the
concept of the public good.” Horace Mann (1796-1858)


“There is no God and there is no soul. Hence, there is no need for the
props of traditional religion. With dogma and creed excluded, then
immutable truth is also dead and buried. There is no room for fixed,
natural law or moral absolutes.” John Dewey (1859-1952), the “Father
of Progressive Education;” co-author of the first Humanist
Manifesto and honorary NEA president.

“[Statist schools in Soviet Russia are] the marvelous development of progressive educational ideas and practices under the fostering care of the Bolshevist government … the required collective and cooperative mentality. The great task of the school is to counteract and transform those domestic and neighborhood tendencies … the influence of home and Church.” ~John Dewey (Dec. 5, 1928).


“Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every
American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday
School’s meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of
the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic
teaching?” Charles F. Potter, Humanism: A New Religion (1930)


“I think that the most important factor moving us toward a secular society
has been the educational factor. Our schools may not teach Johnny to
read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is sixteen
tends to lead toward the elimination of religious superstition.” Paul
Blanshard, “Three Cheers for Our Secular State,” The Humanist,
March/April 1976


“We must ask how we can kill the God of Christianity. We need only to
insure that our schools teach only secular knowledge. If we could achieve
this, God would indeed be shortly due for a funeral service.” G. Richard
Bozarth, “On Keeping God Alive,” American Atheist, November
1977

“If education is to meet the current and future needs of our society, Humanistic objectives and Humanist thought must operate at the very heart of every school and classroom in the nation.” ~Arthur Combs, “Humanism, Education, and the Future” published in Educational Leadership (1978)


“I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged
and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly
perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity.
These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most
rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort,
utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in
whatever subject they teach, regardless of educational level – preschool,
day care or a large state university. The classroom must and will become
an arena of conflict between the old and the new – the rotting corpse of
Christianity...and the new faith of humanism.” John J. Dunphy, “A New
Religion for a New Age,” The Humanist, January/February 1983


“Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill,
because he comes to school with certain allegiances toward our founding
fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in
a supernatural Being, toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate
entity. It is up to you teachers to make all these sick children well by
creating the international children of the future.” Harvard Professor of
Education and Psychiatry, 1984

Over 170 years of directed attack on Liberty and Christianity has slowly, ever so slowly, taken root and spread like a debilitating cancer on our culture. Society changed coming into the 1900’s and even more so after WWII. The feminist Movement was spawned out of the Secular Humanist movement. The traditional roles were becoming archaic and the right place for a woman was not at home with her children, but seeking her own way and ambition in the workplace. With the woman away, children were to be raised outside of the home until they reached school age. 5-6 years of lowered parental influence was just what the secular humanists envisioned. When the kids reached school, the real indoctrination could be more easily administered. After WWII the divorce rate started to increase, fathers abandoned their families or refused to marry more often, unfaithfulness in marriage increased, unwed mothers increased, religious faith was left for Sunday only more than ever before in history, abortions were called for as a right, the freedom of the 1960’s wrapped up many new societal ideas and ushered in a sea change in our culture.

Concurrent to the systematic infiltration and attack on the hearts and minds of our school aged children, there was also an increase in social welfare and governmental programs designed, well marketed, to be an aid and a crutch for those less fortunate. So millions and then billions of dollars were spent establishing social welfare programs…which became entitlement programs…when created a class of people dependent on governmental assistance…which developed a large voting block that Progressives could count on for political power. It’s rather genius, in an evil way. It is called the Cloward Pi-ven strategy but there are multiple similar Progressive Movement ideas. First you slow walk indoctrination in science and schools to lead people to question the truth. …if it takes several decades, that’s ok. Then once you get to the right point you can then transform the government into a baby nanny state knowing it will mature into an adult nanny state. People have been struggling for centuries on their own so the Progressives will give them “hope” in form of money and services. With the right cultural shift against a deep relationship with God, then money and security become the counterfeit god. This will change the culture. It will change cities. It will change neighborhoods. It will change families. It will change individuals. And it did.

As society changed, so did the church in many cases. Helping those in need has always been a church function. But as the government took over that role, the church took a step back. Don’t get me wrong, there are many ministries where the church is active in helping…but for a period of time local ministry to those in need just didn’t happen like it does today. Further…Churches taught the Bible to their members but kids in school were hearing a different story on creation and on morality. Which was right? The time spent in school was too much indoctrination for most students who were not deeply rooted in God’s word so there were (and still are) vast compromises made. The Bible was no longer seen as real Truth and having authority. Moral relativism and situational ethics invaded the hearts and minds of generations of people. Compromised parents are raising compromised children. Seminaries and pastors are not insulated either, as seen in the teachings of some churches. These churches have gone to the world and secular humanism and evolution as fact and replaced the Bible as having Absolute Truth and Authority. Our churches are compromised. Our nation is compromised. Generation after generation are no longer standing for what is Godly, right, just, good and decent…all Biblical values. Given enough time, this leads to deterioration of our culture and a shift in the mindset of our people. This was the goal from the beginning of the Secular Humanist and Atheist Progressive Movements.

After WWII, the entire landscape of work and family drastically changed. Women at a rate never witnessed here had received a taste of work during the war and a large % (more than ever in American history by far) did not return to being stay at home moms and housekeepers…but entered the workforce. So their kids are at school (which we already discussed). School kids became more and more “latch key” kids. Part of the Progressive Movement agenda was a change in the family where women would no longer be at home traditionally. Women at home normally conform to traditional values and to combat that and influence the young minds fo children, women needed tobe outside of the home. And the Feminist Movement developed, not suffrage but true feminism, and ushered this into our culture in the 1950s. This shift in roles changed the family dynamic. It really changed the culture. This can be visually seen through lower middle class and middle
class architecture more than anything else. The wealthy have always had large homes. The craftsman style smaller home with front porches and small closets where kids routinely shared rooms began to change in the 1950’s. Larger homes with more room, more closet space and les front porches were common. This greatly increased into the 1960s and 1970s. Sitting on the porch and interacting with neighbors changed to saying indoors or going to the back yard for “privacy”. Families were better off economically as can be seen by the size of closets…increased with each passing decade. There is he sense of “inwardness” and self focus that began in a widespread way right after WWII. That self focus shook the very foundation of faith and family.

As attention shifted to self, more money, 2 incomes, more stuff, bigger homes, less moms at home so kids have less parenting, indoctrination even though subtle in schools, more governmental handouts, less incentives to be self-reliant---the list is long and that is a mere fraction. – the end result was people being miserable. Suicide rates increased. Infidelity increased. Divorce rate grew. Unwed pregnancies grew. City violence increased. Crime increased. Harder drugs were introduced and violent drug crime skyrocketed. The government just threw money at the problem. Secular Humanism had come to be in America by 1980. And it rooted and became even deeper as the years passed.

A shifted culture means shifting voting patterns. Now there have always been political parties with differences of opinion. But post WWII it is as if our adults were exhausted. They gave in to the cultural wave that bloomed and spread so quickly. In political retrospect we can see now this rising Progressive leftist surge entering into our body politic in the 50s and 60s….hmmmm almost like it was coordinated? You bet it was coordinated. Systematic, calculated, patient Progressive Movement tactics. More leftist public outcry manufactured via protests and marches….yielded more leftist policies and eventually leftist SCOTUS decisions. The role of the court in the 1900s cannot be overstated (but that would be a separate long essay). In a nutshell the Supreme Court began to even more legislate from the bench and enabled deep rooting of Secular Humanistic and Progressive Thought to spread and become pervasive through recent history.

This culture shift toward Secular Humanism is a clear and distinct marker for the increased rate of moral decay and the deterioration of the fabric of our nation and around the world. The lines of Truth, Right, Wrong, Moral, are blurred. It is no longer just about education or religion as the vehicle, it has expanded. The media is in lockstep with the design as seen by the agenda driven movies, TV shows, Magazines, and articles written about “progress” in our culture. Slowly but surely the hearts and minds of the American people are being changed, in essence everyday people are being deceived and turned into “sheeple”. They are following blindly as they have been indoctrinated so well that traditional values are the problem and the ideals of secular humanism are the cure. As seen by these evidences and mentalities:

-“What is right for me and my situation is what counts” mentality
-The Bible is a fairytale, myth, and religion is only out for money and power over the people
-Abortion is legal and a right to choose is sacred
-The Sanctity of life is no longer sacred
-Epidemic rates of divorce, fatherless homes, and general breakdown of the family unit over decades
-Traditional Family Values are archaic and controlling
-The Feminist Movement sought to trample traditional roles
-Teenage rebellion at highest levels known to mankind
-Being gay is natural for some, so Gay Marriage is acceptable
-Social Engineering in multiple aspects of education to produce a brainwashed nation
-The systematic teaching of falsehoods in our schools to produce a deceived culture
-Progressive media with agendas at every turn, almost impossible to escape the impact
-Reliance on government programs instead of reliance on God
-Our world and ourselves are ever evolving, so there are no absolutes
-Socialism, Marxism, Communism (which at their core are atheistic) are seen as Progressive socioeconomic and political ideals to be achieved
-The Church is the real enemy to a free people.
-Science has the real truth because the Bible is just a story
-“Church, well that is for Sunday” mentality has taken over
-The government owes me money to live…things must be fair for everyone…redistribution of wealth
-Attacks on free market and capitalism in favor of Marxist economics
-Hatred and contempt for those who have a national spotlight and express their Biblical viewpoints
-Double standard of Tolerance on the “left”: Tolerance is given only if you agree with them
-The continued battle for the hearts and minds of our youth for if you get the youth on your side it insures future generations will be also.
-Warped sense of separation of Church and State
-Demand for a living and breathing and ever-changing Constitution.

As the blur continued, organizations were able to incubate and grow into powers. The rise of Secular Humanism and Atheist Progressive movements is ever increasing. Just look at the world stage to see what is happening:

-Europe…enough said
-United Nations
-World Health Organization
-Amnesty International
-Roe v. Wade
-African Genocide
-Slavery
-National Education Association and all the state associations
-US National Institutes of Health, Federal department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services
-Welfare Programs
-Anti-Christian sentiment is rampant all over the world
-Nanny-state government models or corrupt dictatorships are the norm globally
-Progressive indoctrination through academics is firmly in place in every public academic institution on earth and in most all private institution, except for some bible believing Christian settings.
-Pro-Gay organizations with political power
-Environmental and Green Movements
-Anti-gun movements
-The list is long…….

The culture shift produced by this movement is responsible for the large majority of the problems in our culture and elsewhere as seen in our education system and in other areas of life. When there is no God and no true meaning to life there is not any need for decency or responsibility ultimately. Survival of the Fittest at play. The clamor for the government to be all things to all people. Global unification and world governments. A godless America and world that has a disdain for Absolute Truth. We as a nation have accepted a lie over Truth. These are indeed perilous times!

That, my friends, is my take on where we are and why.

c Copywrite-2017

Good read