WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

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Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, February 27, 2023, and this is Episode #9 of Series 2023. This episode is titled "The Paganization of America". 

When I studied the history of Western Civilization in college back in the mid-sixties, the cultural consensus was that the West had overcome the primitive beliefs of earlier peoples who worshipped gods and goddesses, mythology, and other forms of paganism. We in America--and in the West-- had now become a rational civilization, a civilization that eschewed ancient myths, ancient forms of worship, and ancient philosophies. We now had science, and science poked holes in such silliness.

If only my history professor back in those days could see what is happening in our country now! We have embraced the very culture we once termed as foolish and primitive. We have returned to those destructive lies. We are once again worshipping pagan gods in America.

In a pivotal book titled The Return of the Gods (affiliate link), Rabbi Jonathan Cahn posits that America's return to paganism began in the sixties when prayer was removed from our public schools. This heinous act, Cahn points out, was the first step in separating our children from God and God from our children. Since then, it has been a downhill battle in our land to save our children from wickedness and destruction.

We have only to look at the staggering suicide rate among children between the ages of nine and fifteen. We must ask ourselves why. The answer is clear. Without God, there is no hope.

Sadly, we have come a very long way from the America in which I grew up.  Just to give you an example: From 1950 until 1954, I attended Kindergarten to fourth grade at the public school in my town. My first grade teacher, Miss Ritter, had a Bible on her desk. Every morning, our class had to rise for the reading of the Word. After reading a passage from the Bible, my teacher prayed aloud. After her prayer, we saluted the flag. (Click here to read my heartwarming story about Miss Ritter, titled "Miss Ritter's Bible".)

If a public school teacher today did what my first-grade teacher did back in 1951, today's teacher would be fired and, possibly, charged with breaking the law. And we wonder why our youth have gone astray?

If you've ever watched old television programs like Leave It to Beaver, you get a glimpse of what America was like back in the 50s. I can vouch for those TV shows. I grew up in the fifties and sixties. America back then was a wholesome place, a country where the consensus was a moral one, even among those who were not Christian. It was considered shameful to have sex before marriage. Today, we blatantly promote sex before marriage. In fact, we even encourage young people to live together without getting married.

Of course, there has always been sin, even back in the 50s and 60s.