There may be many reasons to explain why morality keeps declining in America just as it has in Europe, but since judgment begins at the house of God, I think it is best to start with the Church. Even the conservative Evangelical Churches teach that a person is saved simply by believing in Jesus and living a basically moral life. Oh, they deny it, but that is where their theology leads. If you are basically a good person and believe that Jesus died for your sin, then you are saved - that is the sum and substance of their theology. As long as the Churches keep teaching salvation by faith alone, that sinning no more and keeping Christ's commands are not necessary for salvation, then people will continue to slide into sin and believe that all is well with their soul.
     It takes a great deal of energy just to stem the tide of immorality, and it takes an even greater energy to turn it, but the comforting doctrines of 'come as you are conversion,' 'salvation by faith alone,' and 'eternal security' leave people with the distinct impression that they can sin and get away with it. Oh, they may think that they will pay some price for it in this life, but they still believe that they will get to go to Heaven in the next. Is it any wonder that liberals have simply bypassed the guilt-trip and go on to teach that there is no sin or Hell.
     Pascal gave us a wager, and I have a similar wager for Evangelicals. Either works are necessary for salvation or they are not. If they are, then doing those works will have gained you entrance to eternal life, but if they are not, then at least you lived a godly life and helped to teach others to live godly lives or helped to lead others to salvation. If works are not necessary, you will have gained rewards, lived and sacrificed your life fully to God, loved God with all your strength and loved Christ by keeping all of His commands, and you will not have been a stumbling block to others.
     Paul wrote that 'grace teaches us to live godly in this present age,' that the Gospel is supposed to be according to 'godliness,' and that we are to be 'crucified with Christ.' He said that it was the wise of this world which believed that they could hold the truth in unrighteousness. I hope the true standard will someday be taught in our Churches because no one is going to die to sin if the Churches keep teaching that you do not have to die in order to be saved. The Catholics use Peter's confession as a proof text, and the Evangelicals use the new birth, but Jesus stressed in every Gospel and more than once that you must die spiritually in order to be saved. He taught that only those who hear and do what He taught are wise and building on the Rock, only those who do good deeds come to the Light.
     The paradox of the Gospel is that not only does the Testator have to die but so do the inheritors. Do you really think people are going to turn from their sinful lives and start standing up for morality when they do not even want to know the truth about salvation? Do you really think that people will do the right thing politically if they do not even believe in a real God Who puts real demands on His people? If people believe that God loves them just as they are, that they do not have to do anything in order to be saved, and that they cannot lose their salvation, do you really think they will go against the flow of immorality?
     When these doctrines were being worked out, there were few if any writings available from the Early Church. The reformers substituted their own opinions for doctrine, and ever since then, our views have been clouded by their interpretations. The fact is that their theology is inconsistent with: the historic apostolic faith of the Early Church, the Scriptures as a whole, and logic. Also, it has lead directly to the apostasy of Europe, and it is leading America down the same path.
     I do not know why God has blinded the eyes of so many with such a subtle deception, but I know it will be for the purpose of disciplining those who are not deceived. Those who suffer in the flesh have ceased from sin. So, follow Jesus the man and walk, talk, and live the truth; be the example; be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and start teaching the truth.
     There was a time when Christians thought that the end of Rome was the end of the world, but it was not. Many see the end of America as the end of Christianity, but it is not. We are strangers and sojourners in this world. We belong to another Kingdom. We will not be surprised by having to suffer with Jesus. We can do all things through Him, and we look forward to our real home.
     If you want to know more about the teachings of the Early Church, read their writings for yourself, or at least, read the works of someone who has read them himself and tries to actually live by Jesus' teachings. I recommend the works of David W. Bercot.  You can obtain his works through Scroll Publishing out of Amberson, PA at www.scrollpublishing.com