This Surprises People?

The cover of this week's Newsweek reads "The Decline and Fall of Christian America."
Apparently this shocks people.
Christianity, true Biblical Christianity, not this watered-down, heath/wealth, overly-tolerant crap we've been shown by almost every televangelist in the country, has been in a decline for a long time now. It was just never as obvious before.
We live in a modern day Babylon. Everything is at our fingertips. It's ours to grab. "Whoever dies with the most toys wins" is our mentality.
But what good is it if you gain the whole world yet lose your soul? (Luke 9:25)
Some say we've fallen from the "Christian values this country was built on."
I disagree.
This country was certainly founded on a couple Christian principles, along with Greek ideas of democracy and John Locke's philosophy. And honestly the latter two had more of an impact. The majority of the Founding Fathers were deists and secular humanists.
The Declaration of Independence says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator..."
They do give credit to a Creator. But honestly that statement doesn't really support the idea that the Founding Fathers were Christians. If anything it leans more toward the deist/humanist philosophy. Particularly if you read the rest of the Declaration. Don't get me wrong, its a great document that will get the blood going, but the themes of individualism and independence aren't really Biblical.
We are called to submit ourselves to Christ. To surrender to Him and become reflections of His image. Ours is a faith of obedience and dependence.
That doesn't mean we should hide it though. We are called to go and make disciples, to let our lights shine and to be ready to make a defence of the hope that we have (Matthew 28:19; Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Peter 3:15-16).
In some ways, many of us have failed miserably. We hide our lights for fear of rejection, out of pride, out of any number of things. That doesn't make it right, but until we understand what we're doing than we really can't fix it.

United States of America, looks like another silent night;

As we're sung to sleep by philosophies,

That save the trees and kill the children.

And while we're lying in the dark,

There's a shout heard cross the eastern sky.

For the Bridegroom has returned,

And He's carried His Bride away in the night.

In the night.

America what will we miss while we are sleeping?

Will Jesus come again, and leave us slumbering where we lay?

America, will we go down in history,

As a nation with no room for it's King?

While we were sleeping?

-Casting Crowns