If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Psalms 11:3

It was June of 1963. World War II had ended 18 years earlier, led by what many have called the Greatest Generation. This was the generation that was raised during the dust bowl years of the great depression. When war came, men and women of all ages answered the call to serve their country. First, it was to fight the evil axis led by the Nazis and Adolph Hitler, but then they were called upon to fight against the nation who masterminded the sneak attack on Pear Harbor. Some of the greatest heroes of this era were those who stayed home to produce the weapons and equipment needed for this monumental war effort. It was a great generation, indeed.

After the war they began to rebuild, supplying the world with vital products needed to put back together everything that had been broken through the ravages of war. America was the industrial capital of the world and she put her efforts into the production and manufacturing of the items that were so desperately needed in a world that was now healing instead of destroying. Many settled down and started families, creating the famous "baby boom". A housing boom followed the babies as the nation rushed to fill a demand that had not been seen in over two decades. It was an exciting time, to be sure.

Adding to all of this activity was the fighting of two additional wars. The Korean War began around 1950, and no sooner had it ended that the crisis in Vietnam began. One of my earliest memories is of my Mom meeting my dad at the doorway when he was coming home from work. She had been listening to all the news stories and was concerned that he might be called back. I can remember him reassuring her that the military probably wouldn't need men with young families, Fortunately he was right, but it was just one more thing to worry about in a series of continual distractions in the world in which we lived.

Maybe this explains why the greatest generation almost completely missed one of the most horrific crimes ever perpetrated against the American people. The crime was not done on some far away island, nor was it being committed by some madman bent on taking over the world through military conquest. Instead it was done in the heart of our Capital, Washington D.C. It was a godless act done by a group of men serving on the Supreme Court. They doubtlessly considered themselves righteous men, but they were far from it, for in June of 1963 they ruled that prayer and the Bible has no place in the schools of America. 

They said it was unconstitutional. This despite the fact that one of the earliest acts of congress after the new nation was born and her Constitution signed, was to authorize and pay for Bibles that were to be used in the teaching of our children in the schools throughout this brand new country. And the response to this act of evil perpetrated in June of 1963 against an entire nation (a nation, it should be noted, that had prayed continually for God's assistance and intervention throughout the great crises of the day)? The response was nothing more than a weak whimper. 

And, as Judge Robert Bork once pointed out, our once great nation began its slog towards Gomorrah. 

Fast forward to today. We have skyrocketing homeless and alcohol and drug use and crime. Instead of our children attending schools where God was once honored and welcomed, we have a perverted type of educational prison facility where metal detectors, armed guards, and all too frequent shootings and lockdowns have replaced the Bible and prayer that were once a hallmark of this great nation's schools.

I don't want to be too hard on the "Greatest Generation" for I believe that they were one of the most self-sacrificing generations in the history of our country. But they did fail us in this... and it had to have been the greatest failure of this otherwise remarkable group of the men and women to whom we owe such a great debt. I do want to point out that they allowed this travesty to occur, not because of some sort of evil plan to bring down the country they so valiantly served, but simply because they became too distracted to realize what was happening.

Now the question that remains our generation is this. Will we recognize the enemy within our midst and fight, or will we simply continue our pleasure seeking decent into the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah in which we find ourselves today? Where, I wonder, will the next "great generation" come from? And when will they begin doing something about the correcting the evil circumstances in which we find ourselves living in today?

It's something to think about. And, it is something to be praying about as well!