America Divided Split Cut:

Zechariah 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Mark 3:24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Luke 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.

Luke 12:53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

The US Government has become politically divided and is in discord and disunity. The political division affecting and splitting America is a direct result of its efforts to ‘divide Jerusalem’ via the ‘Deal of the Century’ or the regional covenant of peace and security in the Middle East. Throughout scripture, God has made it abundantly clear that Jerusalem is the ‘apple of his eye’ and has his stamp of ownership on it … above all other cities on earth. God makes it adequately clear in Zechariah 12:3 that any nation that attempts to cut or divide up Jerusalem, will themselves be cut up or divided. As such, the US is cut or divided politically because of its leadership role in attempting to split God’s Holy City of earthly Jerusalem. Plain and simple.

OK. So it’s clear about the accelerating implosion of political unity in the US. Political discord will get worse and become angrier, antagonistic, confrontational, and hateful with little to no compromise, concession, agreement or unity. Contempt and distrust rules the day. Some would say this is already the case not only between Democrats and Republicans, but also within each party. Whether you believe the US being extremely divided is a result of God’s wrath for its role in dividing Jerusalem or not, it doesn’t matter. The fact remains that the US is becoming bitterly more and more divided. This division has also taken place in culture (LGBTQP+ social inclusiveness agenda), economics (income inequality), etc. The list can go on. America is divided on so many levels, not just politically.

America Divided, Split: America Divided, No Moral Consensus

September 3, 2019. Breakpoint.org. John Stonestreet

Anyone else dizzy by how quickly some things went from being unthinkable to unquestionable? Just in the last few years? Although the most recent demands of the Sexual Revolution are more radical than ever, people seem to be embracing them more quickly than ever.

For example, when Andrew Sullivan first made the case for same-sex marriage in the New Republic back in 1989, the very notion was considered to be beyond the fringe, and it stayed that way for about two decades.

Then, suddenly, it wasn’t beyond the fringe anymore. By 2012, a majority of Americans favored same-sex marriage, and three years later, it became a constitutional right. Today, opposition or even ambivalence to same-sex marriage is regarded as beyond the fringe.

And the pace of change on sexual issues has only accelerated. Transgenderism was considered beyond the fringe when same-sex marriage was legalized, and I predict the acceptance of polyamory could happen even faster.

So what explains this quick and thorough collapse of the old moral consensus?

That’s what I talk about on the BreakPoint Podcast this week with sociologist Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas. Our conversation dug into a recent Public Discourse article he wrote: “How the Rise in Unreligious Americans affects Sex and Marriage: Comparative Evidence from New Survey Data.”

Just after the midterm elections in November 2018, Mark Regnerus asked three groups–Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, and the non-religious–about their opinions relating to marriage, family, and sexuality. He compared their responses with those from a survey he conducted three years prior.

What Regnerus found was that the nonreligious are now even more likely to hold “progressive” views on marriage, family, and sexuality, especially when compared to self-identified Catholics and Evangelicals.

For instance, 24 percent of the non-religious agreed with the statement “marriage is outdated,” compared to just 10 percent of Catholics and 2 percent of Evangelicals. 

Similarly, the non-religious were three times more likely to say that polyamorous relations were okay compared to Catholics and ten times more likely compared to Evangelicals. And, the non-religious were eight times as likely as Evangelicals to say that “sometimes extra-marital sex can be okay.”

Of course, the strong relationship between one’s religious observance and their view on marriage, family, and sex is no surprise. What makes Regnerus’ study so revealing is how rapidly the number of those who self-identify as non-religious has increased. In 2015, they made up 15 percent of the respondents. Four years later, they made up twenty percent, a one-third increase in only four years.

The non-religious are often called the “nones,” and it’s important to remember that relatively few of them are atheists or agnostics. Many believe in things like astrology and witchcraft and many consider themselves quite spiritual. But they reject authoritative religious traditions and institutions, and increasingly embrace progressive views on social issues.

But the even more “ominous” trend from this study is that even though there exists a significant disparity in views between the religious and non-religious, the religious are displaying trends of increasing liberalization too. “Catholics… have witnessed liberalization in attitudes,” Mark says, though “Evangelical numbers display a more modest uptick.” 

Regnerus concludes that Christians seem to be growing more complicit in the Sexual Revolution, or at least more quiet about their misgivings, year by year.