American history | Eradicate: Blotting Out God in America

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Radical Take Down of America: Has The Left Won?

Posted: March 4, 2017 by David Fiorazo in American History, Church, David's Blog, Government Corruption, President Obama, Saul Alinsky
Tags: American history, Barack Obama, Christianity, Cloward-Piven, Economics, Education, entertainment, Environmentalism, Globalism, government, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, liberalism, Marxism, progressive, religious freedom, Saul Alinsky, Socialism, welfare

The United States of America has been under attack – from within. Two things make this fact even worse: many people are oblivious, and the larger problem is others just don’t seem to care.

It is important we understand how we got to this point of corruption and crisis as a nation, determine who is responsible, and decide what we can do about it. You may know much of this information, but many of your friends do not; please share it.

In order to examine the spiritual, financial, and political condition of the United States of America, the epic prize globalists wish to conquer, it’s vital we acknowledge some brief history.

Pilgrims and patriots came to these shores to escape religious persecution, government intrusion, and to establish a God-fearing settlement that would flourish on faith and freedom. This great Republic was originally founded upon biblical teachings, Moral Law, and the Declaration of Independence. We know, however, this is not the same country it was one or two hundred years ago.

We now know – and many of these are interchangeable – atheists, communists, liberals, humanists, Marxists, progressives, and socialists have infiltrated our government and undermined the order and very foundation of our nation. They have infected our courts, the education system, our corporations, the entertainment industry, and unfortunately, many of our churches. (Read about the Emergent Church.)

Most of us would like to see this nation return to one in which people once again honor the Lord first, respect the Constitution, the Flag, and allow others to live their lives based on Judeo-Christian principles. But this may be wishful thinking because political correctness will no longer coexist with religious freedom.

For concerned Christians, there is a stark reality looking us square in the eyes: God’s Word (Bible prophecy) reveals some sobering truths about the future of our nation and this world. Things will become even darker, more chaotic, and people’s hearts will grow cold. The Bible tells us evil will appear to prevail in the days leading up to the Lord’s return, and nations will not only come against Israel, they will stand in defiance of God our Creator and King.

The question is how much time do we have in the United States of America? Obviously, no one can answer this specifically. Could we have a great spiritual revival and awakening in our nation? It is possible, but not probable. Have we become such stiff-necked, lukewarm, self-serving people we have already sealed our own fate? Perhaps.

The other day, our guest on Stand Up for the Truth, Julaine Appling said,

“Law is always downstream of culture.”

It is true our culture drives politics and legislation in America. Just look at the powerful LGBT lobby teaming up with Hollywood and the liberal media! But what happened to the influence of the church? Christianity used to drive culture, but today, more and more churches, leaders, and denominations have become silent or have conformed to the world.

Anti-Christian, anti-American agendas are being carried out across the country with little concern or resistance.

Two evil, influential political philosophies have shaped the direction of our nation over the past 50-plus years, and we see devastating effects on Americans who are (for the most part) unknowingly embracing them.

Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals”
The Cloward-Piven Strategy

These two progressive, Marxist philosophies and their implemented agendas have been used together to bring our nation to the precipice of economic and moral destruction. First, a quote from: Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals

“In the beginning the organizer’s first job is to create the issues or problems.” Saul D. Alinsky,

The Obama administration sure took that principle to heart.

…Chicago-born Saul David Alinsky (1909 – 1972) was an American community organizer who dropped out of graduate school at the University of Chicago to work as a criminologist. He was drawn to the world of gangsters and was a confidant of the Al Capone mob. Alinsky became a “student” of enforcer Frank Nitti, who took over the mob when Capone was sent to prison. An Alinski radical has one main goal – power.

His motto was, “The most effective means are whatever will achieve the desired results.” In 1971, the hard Left, progressive community organizer wrote a playbook of subversive tactics to empower an upcoming generation of change agents. A few notable adherents to the Alinsky method are: Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Van Jones, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jim Wallis, and former President Barack Obama.

Expert organizer, President Obama, didn’t miss a beat when he left office and according to reports is scheming to sabotage Donald Trump’s presidency. His army of agitators numbering in the tens of thousands will take orders from Obama’s command post in his new Washington home less than two miles from the White House. Not content to move on like other ex-presidents, Obama is actively working to fight against Republicans.

Having raised over $40 million in the last few years of his presidency with the help of former Obama aides and campaign workers, his network of leftist nonprofits led by Organizing For Action (OFA) with 250 offices across the country, added staff, and fresh recruitment of liberal activists. Not only that, but Obama’s close confidante Valerie Jarrett has moved into his new DC home, the nerve center for their plan to mastermind the insurgency against the Trump administration.

The Alinsky Game Plan:

Exploit the weaknesses inherent in the system, made weaker by pitting opposing forces against one another.
Oppose independent, morally strong, educated people because those individuals, especially in groups, can’t be manipulated easily.
They attempt to end-run constitutional rights with social contract and dialectic consensus methods. Engage in large scale social engineering, attempting to unfreeze a society using chaos, and to then refreeze it in a new predefined shape.
The dividing lines they polarize people on are most often racial, economic, religious and political.
Cause social instability through subversive and divisive rhetoric. One method is to control the outcome of the education system by lowering the standards of education so that it creates a dependent class.
Use their political platforms to overload a society with social spending programs and class warfare to the point that hatred and division cause social panic.
Once they’ve created a problem, they propose themselves as the answer and use wealth transfers and the trumping of rights as the method to bring about “equality.”

…

THE EFFECTS:

An overpowering Federal government bureaucracy that has violated the U.S. Constitution’s principles of limited Federal government power and control.
$20 trillion in national debt. Not even counting Social Security and Pension obligations: Most estimates are the nation is almost $100 trillion in debt: A system waiting to collapse.
An American public that has become addicted to government handouts. More than half the population is on direct assistance from the government.
A laziness and narcissism with Americans where they look to government to provide instead of providing for themselves.
Massive Student Loan debt that will never be repaid because of a corrupt educational system that lured young people with lies and false illusions.
The only way to get out of this fiscal mess is a complete overhaul of the debt situation in the nation: BANKRUPTCY, which leads to a Marxist State.

THE ALINSKY DOCTRINE:

8 Steps to Topple a Nation and Create a Socialist State.

Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and The Cloward-Piven Strategy have been woven together by Progressive Marxist-Humanists to create a crisis so bad that the only “solution” is what they have wanted: Communism. Let’s look at the eight points where the two doctrines intersect.

*Read the entire post including resource links and a conclusion, “What Christians can do about it” at DavidFiorazo.com

Image credit: Tomohalloran.com

Marriage Ordained by God, Redefined by the SCOTUS?

Posted: April 23, 2015 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog
Tags: American history, Truth

Who will ultimately decide the policy debate over marriage? On Tuesday, April 28, the nine justices on the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the definition of marriage. The consolidated cases will be coming from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (MI, OH, KY, TN). We can and should pray, but we must realize the battle will not end with marriage regardless of what the Court decides. The full agenda is to uproot America’s moral anchors.

Will this pivotal decision be the Roe v Wade of marriage? Similar to that tragic turning point in our nation back in 1973, many of us believe redefining marriage for the entire country is way outside the authority of government. It will only lead to a chaotic, genderless institution where anything goes including polygamy, pedophilia, cohabitation, open marriages, and other societal dangers.

The burden should be on those suing to overturn lawful marriage policy that has existed throughout the history of the United States. Can they successfully prove male-female marriage laws are unconstitutional? The truth remains unchanged; marriage will always be a God-ordained, monogamous relationship between one man and one woman. It precedes kings, judges, and civil government.

American citizens have voted in favor of protecting natural marriage in a majority of states, but in 26 of those, federal judges have overruled the people. This is not only unbiblical, it is against the Constitution and a far cry from our founders intentions that power rests with the people.

This very recent debate over marriage is essentially an argument between men over politics; but for those of us who are Bible-believing Christians, the matter was settled thousands of years ago. Confirming God’s design for marriage in the book of Genesis, Jesus Christ stated:

“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

But our society is no longer going God’s way. There are even so-called churches and religious leaders that have endorsed homosexuality and same-sex unions. When some who profess Christianity accommodate sinful behaviors and lifestyles, it merely muddies up the truth and leads to further cultural confusion.

We sometimes forget the authority of God’s Word that never changes, and the fact marriage is sacred and foundational for healthy families and societies. It also goes without saying marriage based on natural law is necessary for procreation.

The Left has used lies and massive deception to call evil good and good, evil (Isaiah 5:20). They have succeeded in convincing many who are uninformed to drift from belief in our founding principles and history. The goal is not only to redefine marriage, but to reform America into a godless, secular, pagan culture with no moral accountability.

Due to increasing sin and growing acceptance of homosexuality, they insist marriage should be whatever man decides it to be. However, many anthropologists and historians maintain that the alleged “innate” sexual orientation of homosexuality didn’t exist until about 150 years ago when it became a product of Western society. Before that time, homosexuality was known as something one could do, not something one could be.

Even though there is evidence of same-sex behavior and relationships throughout history including pre-modern times, individuals or groups identifying as gay cannot be found in any society prior to the 19th century. Though the marriage debate is well known, the facts and truth are not. Those who demand cultural or political change based on a modern social construct just don’t know much about history.

Increased sexual activity, especially homosexuality, seems to flourish in nations that have experienced an increase in materialism and standard of living without any comparable increase in moral convictions or spirituality. In America, identifying sexual orientation and preference seems logical to some because we live within the system a conforming culture created.

Let’s flip the discussion for a moment. Why do you suppose there are no classifications of “heterosexuals” in the Bible or in past societies? Historians believe there was no heterosexual orientation simply because it was not necessary! Natural law along with reason and common sense provide enough evidence to support marriage between a man and a woman.

The question is not necessarily whether or not the Supreme Court will overturn the biblical and historical definition of marriage. The question is how will committed Christians respond if the Court does redefine marriage? Will we continue in our silent compliance or will this be the wake-up call the church in America needs?

The Last 50 Years in America (part two of four): 1970s & 1980s

Posted: April 5, 2014 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog
Tags: 1970s, abortion, American history, Christianity, culture, immorality, public schools, Roe v. Wade, sin, supreme court

A CONDENSED CHRONOLOGICAL LOOK AT AMERICA’S MORAL DECLINE FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

[The following excerpts are taken from the book, Eradicate: Blotting Out God In America, chapter 14, “The Last 50 Years in America.” These selected events reveal the increase of immorality, secular progressive agendas, and the lack of Christian influence on our culture happening at the same time.]

1970s

1970: The EPA is created to enforce increasing number of environ¬mental protection laws and regulatory agencies. The first Earth Day protests take place.

1972: Abortion is addressed for the first time on television in the prime time sitcom Maude. In a two part episode entitled “Maude’s Dilemma” forty-five-year-old Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) finds she is unexpectedly pregnant and chooses an abortion. Leading up to her decision, her daughter reminds her abortion is now legal. The episode draws millions of protest letters.

1973: In the Saturday Review of Education, radical feminist leader Gloria Steinem declares, “By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God.”

AMERICA, YOU MAY NOW KILL YOUR BABIES

1973: Roe v. Wade – court makes final decision to legalize abortion in all states. This single, detrimental decision by seven unelected justices defines life and death via federal abortion policy in America. Invalidating 200 years of state law, the ruling is made on the naive basis claiming that “no one knows when life begins.” The judgments made in Roe v. Wade were argued based on a “right to privacy.”

1973: President Richard Nixon orders all remaining U.S. troops to leave Vietnam.

1974: After the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon is the first US president forced to resign.

1975: First Uncensored Comedy Special HBO features Robert Klein exclaiming, “It’s subscription … we can say anything. Sh*t! How’d you like that? Sh*t!”

1976: State laws requiring parental or spousal consent for abortion are thrown out. Planned Parenthood challenges abortion regulations in Missouri. Abortion again makes its way to the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth. Court decides that husbands have no say over their wives decision to abort, and parents have no say over their daughter’s decision to abort. In his dissent from this landmark opinion, Justice William Rehnquist argued that the State should recognize the husband’s interest in the life of his child and that this decision was “tantamount to the biological disenfranchisement of fathers.”

1976: Jonestown, Guyana Massacre. On November 18, 1978, “Peoples Temple” cult leader Jim Jones instructs his followers to commit “revolutionary suicide” by drinking cyanide-laced fruit punch. Many drink willingly while some drink by force. At the Jonestown compound in Guyana, 912 Peoples Temple members (276 of whom were children) died. Jim Jones died the same day from a gunshot wound to the head. Earlier, California Rep. Leo Ryan took reporters and a camera crew to Guyana to investigate suspicions that some people were being held against their will. Their visit went fine until Ryan offered to take a few people back to America with his team. While leaving, they were shot and killed near the plane on the air strip.

Jim Jones envisioned a communist community and Jonestown was to be a utopia away from U.S. influence and under his control. He was simply a lying cult leader who manipulated sincere Americans who wanted a better life. He sought an isolated community where they could escape American capitalism and practice a more communal way of life.

According to CNN, Jones was a phony faith healer, and much of his money came in mail-order donations. Elderly members handed over their Social Security checks, working adults gave 25 percent of their wages to the church, and some signed over all their property. Government investigators would later find at least $10 million in Swiss banks, mainly in Panama. Another $1 million in cash was recovered in Jonestown. Jones, a leftist who had no formal theological training, based his ministry on a combination of religious and socialist philosophies.

1976: The Hyde Amendment is enacted. Congress adopts the first version of the legislation proposed by pro-life Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL), barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.

1977: The ACLU opposes the Hyde Amendment claiming it unfairly targets low-income women and the amendment is revised. The original measure made no exceptions for cases of pregnancies that were the result of rape or incest or that threatened the lives of pregnant women. As a result, beginning in 1977 language was added to provide for such circumstances.

1978: Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation – the “Seven Dirty Words” case. The Supreme Court holds that the government can constitutionally regulate indecent broadcasts. It came about when a father complained to the FCC about his son hearing George Carlin’s “Filthy words” routine one afternoon on the radio. The station received a letter of reprimand from the FCC. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling the routine was “indecent but not obscene.” The Court stated the FCC had the authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience.

1979: The Iran Hostage Crisis – American Hostages are taken in Tehran. Islamic radicals take over the American embassy holding sixty-six Americans hostage for 444 days. The crisis was a diplomatic one between Iran and the United States over the support of the Iranian Revolution. President Carter called the hostages “victims of terrorism and anarchy.” The crisis which followed this seizure created a near state of war, ruined Jimmy Carter’s presidency, and began an environment of hostility between America and Iran which continues to this day. In 1981, the hostages were formally released into United States custody shortly after the new American president, Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office.

1980s

1980: Take the Ten Commandments down! In a five to four decision, the Supreme Court rules a Kentucky law, requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted, is unconstitutional. For years, the schools in Kentucky had copies of the Ten Commandments posted in the hallway. In the case Stone v. Graham, it was ruled: “If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey the Commandments … this … is not a permissible state objective.”

1981: “Music Television” – MTV launches an entirely unique new product that would be one of the biggest influences on American youth for twenty-five years. Having a profound influence on the music industry, fashion and pop culture, MTV’s moral influence on young people, including issues related to censorship and social activism, become subject of intense debate.

In 1992, MTV started a pro-democracy campaign called Choose or Lose, to encourage millions of people to register to vote, and the channel hosted a town hall forum for then-candidate, Bill Clinton.10
In 2001, MTV’s hate crimes awareness campaign included airing a made-for-TV movie Anatomy of a Hate Crime, based on the 1998 murder of twenty-one-year old homosexual Matthew Shepard.
In 2005, the Parents Television Council released a study, MTV Smut Peddlers, which sought to expose MTV’s excessive sexual, profane, and violent content.
In 2010, a study by the GLADD found that of the 207.5 hours of prime time programming, 42% included content reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgendered people – the highest gay-friendly percentage ever.

1981: Gay-Related Immune Deficiency (GRID) identified by CDC (Later changed to “AIDS”).

1981: An Arkansas state law passes, mandating the teaching of Creation Science in schools. Equal time was to be given also to evolution. A legal action was mounted (McLean vs. Arkansas) to overturn the law. Scientists and many main-line Christian churches were pitted against conservative Christian groups. The law was declared unconstitutional.

1984: Berkeley, California becomes first city with a domestic partner law.

1984: President Ronald Reagan announces the “Mexico City Policy.” The Reagan Administration denies U.S. family planning funds to any overseas organizations that used their own private funds for abortion services, counseling, or referral.

1986: The first time the word “condom” is used in prime-time on the show Cagney & Lacey.

1986: The first openly lesbian couple is granted legal joint adoption (California).

1986: No more abortion restrictions whatsoever! In a five to four court decision in Thornburg v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, all restrictions on abortion were struck down. No more requirements to inform women about alternatives to abortion. No more requirement to: educate women about prenatal development, to inform women about the potential risks of abortion, to keep medical records of abortions, and no requirement that third trimester abortions be performed in such a way as to spare the life of the viable child. All these were argued to be violations of a woman’s right to privacy.11

1987: The Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the National Education Association is established.

1987: The Last Temptation of Christ hits theaters. Like the novel, the film depicts the life of Jesus Christ and His struggle with various forms of temptation including fear, doubt, depression, and lust. The movie depicts Christ being tempted by imagining Himself engaged in sexual activities. Naturally, secular reviewers including Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of five. Though the movie tanked at the box office, Martin Scorsese received an Oscar nomination for Best Director. In one offensive scene, Jesus and Mary Magdalene consummate their marriage.

1989: Seinfeld airs for the first time on NBC. The sitcom runs until 1998 and becomes a classic. In 2002, TV Guide named Seinfeld the greatest television program of all time. E! named it the “number 1 reason the ‘90s ruled.” The show had a dramatic impact on American culture. For example, in 2009, the episode on masturbation was ranked #1 on TV Guide’s list of “TV’s Top 100 Episodes of All Time.” The prevalent theme on Seinfeld was that life is pretty much meaningless or irrational. This is consistent with the philosophy of absurdism. The characters had an indifference to morality and never seemed to learn their lessons.

1989: Denmark is the first country to legalize same-sex marriage.

1989: Communism fails and the Berlin Wall comes crashing down, signaling the end of the Cold War. In Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in 1988 and 1989, communism falter and new exodus points are opened to East Germans who want to flee to the West. People are in shock that the borders are really open. Jennifer Roesnberg writes in The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall that there was a spontaneous and “huge celebration along the Berlin Wall with people hugging, kissing, singing, cheering, and crying.”12

Click Here for: The Previous Decade: The 1960’s & Introduction to The Last 50 Years in America

Click here for: The 1990′s timeline of immorality – part three of four excerpts

Click here for: The Conclusion of chapter 14 and the years 2000 – 2012, part four of four

THE LAST 50 YEARS IN AMERICA: 1960s (Part one of four)

Posted: March 29, 2014 by David Fiorazo in David's Blog
Tags: 1960's, American history, Bible banned, Christianity, cultural decline, culture, immorality, prayer banned, public schools, supreme court

A CONDENSED CHRONOLOGICAL LOOK AT AMERICA’S MORAL DECLINE FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

[The following excerpts are taken from the book, Eradicate: Blotting Out God In America, chapter 14, “The Last 50 Years in America.”

INTRODUCTION

By the end of this timeline you’ll see massive evidence of the fading impact of Christianity on American culture. The church is on life support. We’ve been examining how false teachings have led to a weakened witness for Jesus Christ. Because of our ineffectiveness, morals and values have eroded in America over many decades. So much has happened in the last fifty years that has shaped the United States; some events impacted our nation for the better while some chipped away at us for the worse.

America was a much friendlier, safer, and simpler place to live in 1962. Unlike the fast-paced, impersonal, high-tech, Internet age today, there was a sense of community. Churches, libraries, and playgrounds were always packed, and families spent plenty of time together.

The average price of a brand new house was $12,500. The Jetson’s premiered while The Flintstones cartoon was into its second full season on television. John F. Kennedy was still alive, and Johnny Carson took the seat for the first time as host of The Tonight Show. Elvis Presley’s big hit was “Return to Sender,” and if Americans weren’t twisting to Chubby Checker, they were doing “The Loco-Motion.” The first James Bond movie, Dr. No, was in theaters and a few of the top movies were Laurence of Arabia, The Miracle Worker, and West Side Story.

The Beach Boys also got their start in 1962 and surfed to success with their fun harmonies. The Isley Brothers recorded the original “Twist and Shout,” and in a decision that would prove fortuitous, Ringo Starr replaced the Beatles original drummer Pete Best. Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. People were more kind, optimistic, and hard working. The unemployment rate was 5.2%, and the average family income was $5,800 a year.

Ninety percent of American households owned a television set, and Zenith marketed its first color TV with a 21-inch round screen! A gallon of gas was just 28 cents and a dozen eggs were 32 cents. The first K-Mart and the first Wal-Mart opened in 1962. An electric popcorn maker was $38.95, and a pair of roller skates cost $36. Dick Van Dyke and the Beverly Hillbillies were on television. Marilyn Monroe died, and Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man first appeared.

Families were still thriving, and many people even knew their neighbors! I remember in the early 70s, men from the neighborhood helping my dad paint and put a new roof on our home while my mom brought out cold lemonade, beer, or soda. In turn, when they needed a hand, Dad would be on a ladder working over on their house. We can honestly say those were happier times.

Unknown to most people, there were some well-established underground movements working to blot out God in America. Some past historical events were morally and spiritually devastating. We have fallen for creative rhetoric that would have us believe in nothing, but tolerate everything. I wonder how different things might be today if Christians had taken a stand or had put up a fight through the years. People of faith need to wake up fast.

1960s

1962: Engle v. Vitale. This landmark ruling starts our selected timeline. Suddenly, after about 184 years of American history and progress, the court became concerned with reinterpreting the First Amendment. Why? Some parents of public school students complained that the voluntary prayer to “Almighty God” contradicted their religious beliefs. This was the [offending] school prayer:

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.”1

The Court decided prayer in public schools breached the constitution’s wall of separation between church and state. Looking back now, we see that under the extremely liberal-leaning Warren Court in the 1950s and 1960s, secular progressives gained new ground. It’s crucial to remember presidents appoint justices and judges. The church did not resist, and the moral slide continued.

1962: The Beatles release their first single “Love Me Do” followed by “Please Please Me.” They would go on to be one of the biggest influences in the world on culture, entertainment and on the entire music industry.

1962: The American Law Institute (ALI) advocates for a change in national abortion laws. A panel of lawyers, scholars and jurists develop the “Model Penal Code on Abortion,” which recommends abortion be legal in cases of rape, incest, severe fetal defects, and when the women’s life or health was at risk.

1963: The Bible is kicked out of public schools. In this case, (Abington v. Schempp) the court ruled that no state law or school board could require the reading of Bible passages at the beginning of each school day. Edward Schempp, a Unitarian Universalist from Abington Township, Pennsylvania, filed suit against the School District. The school district appealed to the Supreme Court, and the case was consolidated with a similar Maryland case launched by Madalyn Murray.

1963: Militant activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair creates the group American Atheists. O’Hair was the mother of plaintiff William J. Murray III, in Murray v. Curlett. O’Hare took the school board of Baltimore to court for allowing prayer in school. Attorneys representing the school districts stated the purpose of Bible reading and prayer was to keep order in schools and provide a proper moral climate for students. Christian organizations were silent so the case went virtually uncontested before the Court. The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of abolishing school prayer and Bible reading in the public schools.

1963: Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, frequently seen as beginning of modern women’s movement. In her book, Friedan examines and confronts the stay-at-home mom role for women. By doing so, Friedan awakens renewed discussion about roles for women in society, and this book becomes credited as one of the major influences of feminism.

1963: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested and two days later is shot and killed by Jack Ruby. It shocked America. This was just two years shy of the 100 year anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Many didn’t believe it could happen again … and a nation mourned.

1964: The Beatles make their first trip to America drawing tens of thousands of fans to airports just to get a glimpse of the Fab Four. They are the first band in history to play at a baseball stadium, Shea Stadium in New York. Wherever they went from this point on, there were fans screaming, some fainting, and crowds barely being contained by police and security.

1964: The Beatles had twelve songs on the Billboard Top 100 chart. In April of that year, they held all five of the top five spots on the chart including “Can’t Buy Me Love” at number one –something that will most likely never happen again in music history.

1964-1968: President Lyndon Johnson launches his Great Society, establishing Medicare, Medicaid, The Housing Act, and dozens of other programs intended to lift Americans out of poverty. In his 1964 State of the Union speech, Johnson declared a War on Poverty. He and the Democrat-controlled congress funded programs that were supposed to provide a safety net for Americans and other programs such as the Food Stamp Program that were supposed to help hurting families in the nation. Congress also gave Johnson the green light to begin funding education and environmental programs. The era of big government spending was underway.

In a 1965 speech, President Johnson said his Great Society “is a society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled.” The “War on Poverty” failed to help those who needed it the most and has piled massive debt on future generations. (In fiscal year 2011, the number of people receiving food stamps has soared to an average of 44.7 million, up 33% from fiscal year 2009 when President Obama’s stimulus act made it easier for childless, jobless adults to qualify for the program and increased the monthly benefit by about 15 %.)2

1965: Homosexual activists picket the White House and Pentagon. San Francisco’s first gay drag ball takes place; the first gay community center opens in San Francisco.

1965: Griswold v. Connecticut – the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, Estelle Griswold, and her Medical Director are arrested and convicted for giving information, instruction, and other medical advice to married couples about birth control. After a series of appeals, the case lands before the U.S. Supreme Court. (Since 1879, Connecticut had a law against providing information on birth control and using drugs or instruments to prevent pregnancy.) The court nullified the Connecticut statute. Griswold v. Connecticut was a landmark case because it established that the U.S. Constitution guaranteed Americans the “right to privacy” even though this was not explicitly stated as such in the original document! The right to privacy set up a legal precedent that would be used in Roe v. Wade.3

1965 – 1969: VIETNAM – America officially enters the Vietnam War. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson sends over 200,000 troops to the conflict. His goal for U.S. involvement in Vietnam was not for the U.S. to win the war, but for U.S. troops to bolster South Vietnam’s defenses until South Vietnam could take over. By entering the Vietnam War without a goal to win, Johnson set the stage for future public and troop disappointment when the U.S. found themselves in a stalemate with the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.

1965: Voting Rights Act is passed, authorizing direct federal intervention to enable blacks to vote. Muslim minister Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz is assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) in New York City.4

1966: By August, The Beatles have sold 150 million records world¬wide in the last few years. Within nine months, the Beatles’ global gross would be $98 million in sales.

1966: Time Magazine celebrates Easter with cover story “Is God Dead?” William Hamilton, the leading radical theologian who helped influence the controversial Death of God movement during the 1960s was quoted by The Oregonian as saying, “We need to redefine Christianity as a possibility without the presence of God.” Hamilton wasn’t the only theologian with this view and others sought to construct “a post-theistic theology without the existence of an omnipotent God.” Episcopalian priest and religion professor at Temple University, Paul Van Buren, rejected God yet presented Jesus as a model human.5

1967: The first gay campus group is formed at Columbia College in New York City.

1967: It’s the Summer of Love in San Francisco as the hippie movement becomes increasingly prominent. One hundred thousand hippies celebrate the sexual revolution which is known for “free love” (sex with no thought of consequence). During the Vietnam War, “make love, not war” is the motto.

1967: The Beatles release an innovative new album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. One of the most influential lines from the title track is “I get high with a little help from my friends.” With the Summer of Love in full swing, many assumed the song supported LSD, and drug use skyrocketed.6

1967: Bonnie and Clyde hits the theaters, shooting up the restrictive code that guarded movie violence for thirty-three years and launches a new era of American film.

1967: “The ‘New’ Social Studies” is published in the NEA Journal, describing the addition of sociology and social psychology curriculum in public schools.7

1968: Race riots erupt across the country. Black Panther Party members carry loaded weapons and numerous civil rights organizations take up the mantra “Black Power!” As a Baptist minister, Martin Luther King kept encouraging nonviolent protests in the Civil Rights Movement, but the movement was becoming divided.

Violence is what brought King back to Memphis on April 3, 1968. He was delayed due to a bomb threat for his flight in Atlanta before takeoff, but that night he gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech and again encouraged taking a nonviolent stand. King’s thoughts were on history, on his mission, and on his mortality as he said there are difficult days ahead, and he didn’t know what was going to happen. He concluded the speech saying:

“I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”8

1968: Thirty-nine year old Martin Luther King is assassinated outside his second floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, at 6:01 PM, just after getting ready to go to dinner.

1968: The Beatles travel to Rishikesh, India, to study yoga and transcendental meditation (TM) with Hindu mystic Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. During their retreat, the Beatles, especially Lennon and Harrison, were looking for more ‘cosmic awareness’ and had been experimenting with LSD. Maharishi helped them process the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, who had died of a drug overdose. Joining the Beatles in India was Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra’s wife Mia Farrow, her sister Prudence Farrow, Yoko Ono, as well as several other celebrities. Prudence Farrow, a UC Berkeley graduate, went on to teach TM for thirty-seven years.

The 1968 gathering in India, with all its high-powered celebrity, attracted a press following. The Saturday Evening Post ran a cover story on the trip in a May 1968 edition, having sent a reporter to go with the Beatles to Rishikesh. Because of this exposure, millions of people in America chose to follow their pop idols by experimenting with drugs, practicing TM or both. Epstein’s death, the Beatle’s world fame, lack of privacy, and that trip to India began a process of unraveling that would lead to the group’s demise. They would not perform another concert together. Today, people throughout society including many church leaders and Christians in America have been influenced by Hindu mysticism.

1968: The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) film rating system was instituted. One reason for its creation at the time was to have an alternative to the government doing the regulating of movie content. For decades, many other countries already had movie rating systems, but due to the increase of violence, “realism” portrayed in films, and some sexual content in the 1960’s, the United States had to implement a form of regulation. Further describing the changing times, Entertainment Weekly’s Mark Harris pointed out that the movie ratings system wasn’t designed for automated ticket purchasing. Harris explains:

“The ratings system was created at a time when American movie houses were single-screen venues with on-site managers, adult ushers, and a ticket saleslady who looked like your homeroom teacher. The rule that kids must be accompanied to R-rated movies by a ‘’parent or adult guardian’’ has always rested on the fiction that a fifteen-year-old can be ‘’protected’’ from distressing content by the presence of an eighteen-year-old. In the age of pay cable, online porn, and one-touch downloads, that’s preposterously quaint.”9

1968: U.S. troop numbers in Vietnam reach 540,000 in December.

1969: Republican President Richard Nixon is sworn in as the thirty-seventh American President on January 20. Nixon takes over the office of the presidency and within five months, Nixon orders the first of many U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam.

1969: Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Mission. America boasts the first manned mission to land on the Moon. The first steps by human beings on another planet were taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969. Americans celebrated the achievement with amazement.

1969: Woodstock! It was billed as “An Aquarian Exhibition: 3 Days of Peace and Music” in White Lake, New York, on rented dairy farmland August 15-17. Promoters expected 150 – 200,000 people, but during the sometimes rainy weekend, thirty-two acts performed outdoors in front of nearly 500,000 concert-goers. Despite the thirty-minute lines for water, at least hour-long wait to use a toilet, and many lawsuits that would follow, the festival was a huge success overall.

There were drugs, sex, rock and roll, and a lot of mud from the periods of rain. It is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in pop music history. Rolling Stone called it one of the 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. Woodstock 1969 marked the peak for hippie counterculture. Their naive ideals of peace, love, tolerance, and unity resonated throughout the country at a time when Americans were divided over politics, race, religion, and war – not too different than today.

1969: In a Gallup poll, 68% of respondents said premarital sex was wrong and 21% said it was not. (By 2009, forty years later, in response to the same question only 32% said premarital sex was wrong and 60% said it was not wrong.)

Click here for: the next two decades: the 1970s & 1980s

Click here for: The 1990′s timeline of immorality – part three of four excerpts

Click here for: The Conclusion of chapter 14 and the years 2000 – 2012, part four of four

Eradicate: Blotting Out God in America

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