America’s Culture of Death and Decadence

James F. Gauss, Ph.D.

April 25, 2025

The following is an excerpt from the Introduction to my book, Embracing the Anti-Christ: The Heresy of Interfaith Dialogue. It is available as an eBook on Barnes & Noble or in paperback or hard cover on Amazon.

Over the last several decades—and likely much longer—America has become a culture of death and decadence. Why has America—once the center of Judeo-Christian principles and experience—degenerated into a wanton, hedonistic society? The reasons, from this author’s perspective are many, but a few glaring ones will be listed.

Separation of Church and State. Americans readily accepted this lie in 1947 and the Church was silent. Barring the Church from the public and political arena of everyday life gave way to debauchery and godless living. This fabricated “separation” does not appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution and was not part of the thinking of any of the Founding Fathers. This author published a short study on the issue available on Amazon, Wall of Separation: Jefferson’s Intention or Judicial Fabrication?

Prayer and Bible were taken out of education in 1962-63. Many of America’s Founding Fathers took a strong position on the Bible and prayer. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a prominent physician, educator and signer of the Declaration of Independence said: “Religion is necessary to correct the effects of learning. Without religion I believe learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind. . .” (letter to John Armstrong, March 19, 1783). By removing prayer and the Bible from our schools, the moral fiber and foundation for youthful guidance was obliterated. Once again, the Church stood silent.

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Rejecting God and the Gospel of Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16). Over the decades, as the Church got weaker and weaker and became more irrelevant in the lives of Americans, society slipped ever further down the slippery slope of hedonism and perversion as God was pushed to the side and out of daily life.

Roe vs. Wade, abortion and the culture of death. Every time there is a mass shooting or some horrific event in the United States involving guns, some (usually Democrat or leftist) politician or liberal broadcaster on television will boldly proclaim that America has become a “culture of death.”

I agree, but not for the same brash pontificating reasons they promulgate. America, indeed, has become a culture of death, but it started long before the first mass shooting at a school. Conspicuously, absent from the culture of death dialogue on the left is the fact that the killing of the innocent has become the law of the land.

I would put forth that America’s accelerated slide into hedonistic living started that day in 1963 when prayer was outlawed in U.S. schools. (I remember clearly that when I was in first grade, in public school in the late 1940s, that we started each day with a reading from Psalms or Proverbs, a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.) Prayer, then Bible reading, were ripped from the children of America via three Supreme Court decisions, in 1962 (Engel vs. Vitale), and in 1963 (Murray vs. Curlett and Abington Township School District vs. Schempp). In all three cases, the High Court, led by liberal Chief Justice, Earl Warren, erroneously and boldly misinterpreted the First Amendment by citing the non-existing doctrine of separation of church and state that does not exist anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. Essentially, the Supreme Court of the land was telling the nation’s children, Almighty God had no place in their lives—no grounding of absolute truth; and no moral compass by which to judge one’s life.

Then, the horrific Supreme Court ruling on January 22, 1973, in Rowe vs. Wade, gave women in America the right to kill their unborn children.    Since    that ungodly decision,  American women/mothers have killed, or allowed to be killed, over 61 million of their babies—almost 62 MILLION! (as of March 1, 2020). So, what lesson did (and does) this teach America’s youth? That life is not worth much. If your own mother can choose to end your life, then what is life worth? NOTHING! “So, why should I care about someone else’s life or my own?” And the Church mainly stayed silent. What could be more sinful? This! Abortion started with America, and America introduced it to the world.   Since it was introduced, an estimated 1.5-1.75 billion babies have been aborted worldwide. Horrendous! Unthinkable! Sinful! Can God ever forgive America and the silent Church? But we are not done with America’s sin or that of the Church.

Sexual perversion among youth and adults. The esteemed George Washington, in his presidential Farewell Address, September 17, 1796, wrote: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them.” Gouverneur Morris, one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution, wrote: “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals: therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man towards God.” Religion, in the eyes and minds of the nation’s Founders was Christianity and essential to education and life. Today, Islam is being allowed to supplant the Christian instruction envisioned by America’s Founders.

Pornography. America is by far the leading source of the world’s pornography. In 2012, it was reported that America, that bygone Christian nation, provided 89 percent of the world’s pornographic production. Far too much of it has also penetrated the sacred halls of Christendom.

The perverted church. In far too many churches, sin has crept in, ever so deceptively at first, but now as a flood, as more and more churches bow at the altar of perversion and a false gospel of the LGBTQ+ (the ever expanding acronym) adherents. A co-habitating man and woman is also acceptable in many churches.

Educational dumb down—rewriting true American history. All the despotic leaders of the past—Hitler, Mussolini, Marx, and others—and those of the present, know that to control the minds of a nation’s youth results in controlling the future. If one controls the narrative, one can dictate the destiny of a people. The great Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” History—American history—once the backbone of American primary education, has given way to political correctness and social engineering substitutes. Real American history no longer exists in America’s public school systems. Often, in its place, is Islamic indoctrination as soon as little Mikey or Sarah set foot in the classroom. And the Church and parents remain mostly silent.

Destruction of the family unit. In the post-World War II era and before, the man/husband was the consummate breadwinner and the woman/wife stayed home as the family “nest builder” and nurturer. Such a concept is alien to today’s families. If there are two parents, in most cases they are both working, leaving others to raise their children, or in the worst case, leaving the children to raise themselves. In addition, the family is being pressured and assaulted emotionally and psychologically from many directions from the growing complexities and challenges of daily living.

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Related Post: The Battle for the Soul of the Church in America