Posted on 12/06/2010 2:26:33 PM PST by Dallas59
A soft landing for America 40 years from now? Don’t bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that in 2025, just 15 years from now, it could all be over except for the shouting.
Despite the aura of omnipotence most empires project, a look at their history should remind us that they are fragile organisms. So delicate is their ecology of power that, when things start to go truly bad, empires regularly unravel with unholy speed: just a year for Portugal, two years for the Soviet Union, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans, 17 years for Great Britain, and, in all likelihood, 22 years for the United States, counting from the crucial year 2003.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Read the CBS article's reader comments... the pukes on there are BLAMING Reagan and the Republican policies for the decline and fall of the American Empire... not Obambi, Carter, Clinton, and the failed policies of the Left.
That’s just silly, and goes to show what passes for political analysis these days. In percentages, the U.S. is by far the most Christian nation on earth; in terms of constitutional government, nobody even HAS one that is similar, and in terms of common law, every year referendums and initiatives testify to the power of common law-—again, something not even present anywhere else in the world.
Well good. That makes two of us. And for that very reason, because there is always a “resistance” in America, it will indeed return to “glory,” as you put it, and I think perhaps quickly. If you think one guy can undo this nation, then in fact you had no faith in what was this nation to begin with.
My faith is in the One Who has promised to restore the nations....just not in this age. This is a special nation, but not one that is exempt from His final plans.
Well, now you’re into religion and there is no debating religion.
Regarding America being a majority Christian nation:
From 1972 to 1993, the General Social Survey of the National Opinion Research Center found that Protestants constituted about 63% of the population. This declined to 52% in 2002. Protestants are believed to have slipped to a minority position sometime between 2004 and 2006 for the first time since the year 1776. 1
“Respondents were defined as Protestant if they said they were members of a Protestant denomination, such as Episcopal Church or Southern Baptist Convention. The category included members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and members of independent Protestant churches.”
For planning purposes, let’s say that the delta from 2002-2010 is roughly the same as from 1993-2002. My guess is that it’s higher, but let’s say it’s the same. That puts American “Christians” given the above (extremely dilute) definition at 43%.
Although doctrinally they are not Christian, Mormons they stake out the same moral-social positions as do Protestants so let’s leave them in the 43% for now. Although their historic doctrine is Christian, churches like the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church-USA, the “Evangelical” Lutheran Church, and the United Church of Christ have abandoned historic Christianity to varying degrees and are 180 degrees out of step with the moral-social positions of the rest of historic Christianity, so let’s deduct them from the 43%.
43% - 6% (Methodists) - 0.7% (UCC) - 2% (ELCA) - 1.7% (Episcopal) - 0.1% (PCUSA)
That leaves us sitting at 32.5% of the population that can be considered more or less reliably Christian.
I’ve left the 22% of the population that is Catholic out of the equation for now because many American Catholics tend to be like Reform Jews in both their level of spirituality and the moral-social positions they stake out (which puts them at odds not only with the teachings of historic Christianity, but at odds with the Vatican). This is reflected not only in Catholic laity, but with a number of priests and bishops as well.
Even if you were to include every Catholic in America regardless, that would only get you to 54%.
I think that the idea that we are a majority Christian nation really no longer applies...which also goes a long way towards explaining why we see what we see in our society today (from Black Friday tramplings to gay marriage).
So what does that mean? Do you feel this is an indicator of our stability in terms of economy, political structure, etc?
Good numbers Yet_Again - many Christian churches in the US are ringing the alarm....
These are statistical games that largely depend on how one chooses to measure (your term that Catholics aren’t Christian is, well, stunning). According to some surveys done by George Barna, the U.S. is 93% Christian by identification; then based on how you define Christian, anywhere from 47% or so down to 25%. It’s like saying that Morocco or Egypt aren’t Muslim nations because, say, 60% don’t believe in jihad against the west.
If you’ll read my original post, you’ll see that nowhere did I say that “Catholics aren’t Christians”. However, there is no good way that I know of to separate the percentage of “Cafeteria Catholics” in that 22% from “Christian Catholics”. My sense is that the “Cafeteria Catholics” are in the majority in American Catholicism, but what that majority is I’d be hard pressed to say.
Actually, that’s where I have been the entire discussion.
Maybe, which means there is no real discussion.
I don’t like this analysis at all. Then you get into “half-way covenants,” trying to determine who is, and is not, “saved.” I get your point. I just disagree.
We make it to 2015?
Good news.
I understand where you’re coming from...it’s a wide road.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.