Is the current societal decline a punishment from God or not?

Having just read an essay in Lewrockwell dot com called “Who Is To Blame?" by Cam Rea, I just wanted to provide some input regarding some of the assertions made in this essay.  

While I can fully sympathize with her position, and while it is true that there are far too many liberal ‘government-loving’ Christians out there, I must clarify a few points.

First of all, it is preposterous to say that God does not punish people (or societies of people) who engage in sexual sins (i.e., homosexuality, etc), or who conduct abortions (or other murderous activity) on a widespread scale. I strongly believe that God does this, and one can point to Sodom & Gomorrah and to other occasions when widespread judgment (punishment) was necessary. I will not debate this point any further, because the biblical evidence is obvious.

Secondly, I see no indication anywhere in the Bible where God actually disapproves of the “State” or of the existence of any form of borders. While it is absolutely true that most governments have become wickedly tyrannical throughout history, He has in fact allowed “States” to exist along with their associated borders. I am not sure, given my study of His Word, whether God is for or against the existence of borders or not.

However, consider the following points. He allowed Babylon to rise and fall. He allowed the Medo-Persia to rise and fall. He allowed Greece to rise and fall. He allowed Rome to rise and fall…. And, today, He has allowed America (and her allies) to rise….and to now gradually fall. Many unbelievers do not understand WHY God would allow such tyrannical and wicked regimes to rise and to then fall. In the case of Rome, He allowed her to destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD (given the Jew’s lack of acceptance of Jesus as the Christ), and then allowed Rome (a wicked Babylon) to fall in the mid-400s, in order to suffer for her impenitent ways. I do not believe that God has ever totally condemned or condoned warfare between countries. He has always allowed such wars to go on. Such a track record leads me to wonder if God is really for the type of “antiwar peace” that so many seem to believe He would or should be for.

Most libertarians would want to believe that God punishes people only on an “individual” basis, and I personally believe that God does in fact do just that. I also believe that God punishes larger societies of people simultaneously, as He has done throughout history. People in most societies CONFORM to societal norms of the communities that they live in. For example, the wealthy materialistic (millionaire) communities consist of people who “compete with the Jone’s.” These people do many of the same type of things. Gay communities often consist of people who engage of many of the same activities right within the area that they inhabit. If a group or society of people engage in similar (sinful) activity, why then would we assume that God would not (at times) punish people in a collective manner?

And lastly, I will agree with Rea’s point that there is a contingent of “Christians” and “Jews” (mostly Zionists) that do advocate and support violence against the enemies of the current nation of Israel. I am totally against this disgusting view and the eschatological premises upholding the justification of their support of violence against her Arab neighbors. For further elaboration on this point, you might want to read my earlier blog post called “A comment about Christian Zionism” .

Sadly, many intelligent libertarian-minded Lewrockwell readers no doubt equate “Christianity” with irrational Zionist philosophy. I am here to debunk the destructive teachings of Hal Lindsey and those like him. I urge freedom-minded libertarians to dig deeper, and to look beyond the cruddy Christian Zionist hype that so pervades common Christianity as we now know it!