In the process of time, God ordained three institutions: the Family, Government, and the Church. Each of them was given specific, divinely ordered responsibilities to administer His principles and precepts in the various aspects of human life. Because of the sinfulness of man, the institutes have become divided and developed a bias contrary to the moral laws of God.
Jesus Himself said that the division in each of these institutions would result in their downfall. Couples selfishly divorce, and family brokenness becomes generational. Governments divide over transient ideologies and become ineffective. Churches are infiltrated by divisive worldly philosophy and false doctrine and become venues for social interaction without spiritual fervor. All three institutions in America began to crumble when divine principles were all but forgotten.
Alexis de Tocqueville, a 19th century French statesman, historian and philosopher, toured America in the 1830’s. Here are some quotes commonly attributed to him, “In the United States, the influence of religion is not confined to the manners, but it extends to the intelligence of the people… Christianity, therefore, reigns without obstacle, by universal consent… I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law as well as the surest pledge of freedom. The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other. Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts — the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.”