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Church of God-eim    PO Box 3332 . Modesto, CA 95353    www.cog-eim.org

How the Sexual Revolution Has Destroyed America

Why is it we end up misusing or perverting the good things God gives to us? God gives us beautiful rivers and lakes. We pollute them. God gives us marriage and family. We divorce, rip our families apart, and in the process leave our kids without stability and the parenting they need. God gives us the wonderful blessing of producing children, and we abort them or leave them to strangers to rear in daycare centers.

Sex is another gift God has given to man. The sexual union is very good when expressed within a loving marriage. But the trend in the western world, especially in America these days, is to misuse sex to fulfill prurient desires. In giving in to those base desires, Americans are tearing down the stable structure of their society with their own hands. Statistics of all kinds tell us America is becoming a nation of social derelicts, addicted to irresponsible, selfish behavior. The focus is now all on the self; and in America, it’s whatever makes us happy – even if it’s just for the moment, and even if the consequences are totally rotten.

A major consequence of entertaining, then giving in, to immoral lust is the destruction of our character. That’s true for individuals who engage in immoral acts, and it’s also true for the nation that endorses such behavior. Unfortunately, in America, it is hard to know what is immoral these days. Very few in leadership positions will stand up to condemn even the most obvious immoral behavior. A nation that loses its character to the degree America has will eventually lose its freedom. That is just a fact of history. The Bible is clear about this: There will come a time when God will punish all the nations of the earth for their sexual immorality, especially those he has richly blessed (Revelation 9:21).

The Sexual revolution that began almost forty years ago has had a devastating impact on our nation, and on the world at large: It has been disastrous. Problems stemming from the all-out abandonment of integrity in our marriages have caused incalculable social damage. Now, America finds itself in a battle to define marriage itself. The devastation brought on by such wholesale abandonment of moral behavior has far-ranging effects. Here are some of the problems over-sweeping America, and all of western society today:

• Skyrocketing rates of teen pregnancy. Every year, over one million teenage girls in America become pregnant. The vast majority of these girls are unmarried and have no idea how to mother a child.
   
• Abortions. Approximately 1.5 million abortions are performed in our nation every year. Nearly one third of those abortions are teen abortions.
   
• Addiction to Pornography. One in five men, who claim to confess Christ as their savior, also confess to an addiction to pornography.
   
• Children raised in homes without a Father. One in Three children are being raised in homes headed by a mother and absent a father. This percentage will climb to 50% within the next decade.
   
• Widespread adultery. It is estimated that 60 percent of men will commit adultery at some point in their lifetime. Persons who are sexually active before marriage are much more likely to give in to the temptation of adultery after marriage. We are creatures of habit. If our habit was to sleep around before marriage, we will most likely commit adultery after the honeymoon is over.
   
• Epidemic of sexually transmitted disease. The sexual revolution has produced a society where nearly 1 in 4 sexually active people bear an STD (sexually transmitted disease); compared with 1 in 32 carrying an STD 40 years ago.
   
• Sexual molestation of children. An estimated 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls are sexually molested at least once before reaching adulthood. Usually the molestation comes from a family member or a trusted family friend. Our sex-obsessed culture is destroying our children’s lives.
   
• Rape. 1 in 4 women in this country will have been raped (forced to have sex without her consent) in their lifetime.

When a nation loses its desire to control its sexual appetite, it is symptomatic of a far deeper problem. It is the clear signaling that such a nation has lost its moral compass. Such a nation is surely heading toward collapse, for it simply has no ability to govern itself from within. Take, for example, chastity before marriage -- a simple principle but one that sounds outdated in American culture today. Refusing to engage in premarital sex serves to protect our youth from dangerous disease, emotional scarring, and the heightened potential for divorce in their marriages. Youths who live in a society without sexual restraint experience all these negatives, and are, themselves, likely to give up the will to marry. That is happening in America today. Thus, the very solid unit that made America strong – the family – is now endangered because the society, from within, cannot regulate itself, even in this fundamental way.

There used to be a time when self-control, especially sexual restraint, was considered a moral standard worth aspiring to. Then the sexual revolution promoting carefree sex erupted. The false notion of the “joys” of sex outside of marriage has been pushed at us ever since, and from every direction. TV, magazines, novels, and radio talk shows regularly peddle the idea that sex with a variety of people is wholesome and acceptable! Schools even devote much time to educating our youth in how to engage in such behavior “safely.” Unfortunately, you rarely see the consequences of sex outside of marriage touted in the media. Popular magazines like Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Esquire and People Magazine don’t warn you that sex outside of marriage is always dangerous and horribly destructive. Rather, they make money by selling cheap sex. The sexual revolution, like a destructive virus, has infected the entire western world. The message has been simple and unrelenting: “Sex outside of marriage is not wrong. Sex is pleasurable and normal. If you are not sexually active you are missing out.” The corollary to this philosophy is: People should be free to “make love” without the strictures of the marriage vow, and with no guilt, shame, or stigma attached.

For all this reckless abandonment of morality, one undeniable fact remains: God created men, women, and the sexual union. Genesis 1, verse 31 says, “God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good.” God defined marriage as being only between a man and a woman. And he created sex to be an expression of love between husbands and wives – a privilege of marriage.

The prophet, Jeremiah, describes the spirit that grips our nation today: “They spent much time in houses of prostitutes. They are like well-fed horses filled with sexual desire; each one wants another man’s wife…Shouldn’t I give a nation such as this the punishment it deserves?” Jeremiah 5:7-9 (The New Century Version)

There can be no doubt: There is punishment coming upon this nation and all such “privileged” nations for their wholesale abandonment of sexual morality. America’s prophesied time of trouble is described in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 30 beginning with verse 7. It is called the day of Jacob’s trouble. (Be sure to write in for our free booklet, The United States and Britain in Prophecy, to understand this prophecy is about America.) God’s patience with our sexual depravity is coming to an end! God has made it clear: He is going to punish this nation with a very heavy hand. .

There is good news ahead for America, however. The time when Christ will return in power and glory to rule this earth with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15) will follow swiftly on the heals of America’s time of trouble. Once He has returned, Christ will restore the sanctity of sex within marriage. Families will thrive as people are taught to obey the Commandments of God; and this world’s missing moral compass will be set in place for all mankind at the glorious return of Jesus Christ.

Steven Leblanc