Guest: Ed Vitagliano, Executive Vice President, American Family Association
America as an independent, sovereign nation is now 250 years old. The founders of our nation, who were mostly Christians or were in large measure influenced by Christianity, brilliantly wrote and adopted our nation’s founding and guiding documents—the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and the US Constitution, the supreme law of our land on Sept 17, 1789.
The founders understood from studying Scripture and history that separation of power is necessary to avoid tyranny and individual liberties, bound by personal restraint, are God’s intent for a flourishing society.
They were right. For about 200 years, America grew, developed, and course-corrected into one of the greatest empires in human history—militarily, economically, culturally, and yes, spiritually. The pulpit of Christian churches influenced the majority of our citizens through proclaiming biblical truth and the gospel. Generally speaking, our people and institutions largely revered God and His Word.
But as with all nations throughout history before us, including God’s own people the Jews, the hearts of our people began to wander and be seduced from reverence of the Creator. The Christian worldview that pervaded our land now has been replaced by a man-centered ethic where “every man does what is right in his own eyes.” We are now at the point where right is called wrong and wrong is called right.
So where will America go from its 250 anniversary—deeper into sin and societal collapse or repentance and revival? What do Christians need to understand about our situation and what should they be doing?
Ed Vitagliano is our guest this weekend to help answer these questions. Ed is the executive vice president of American Family Association (AFA) and the longtime co-host of Today’s Issues radio program on American Family Radio Network. An award-winning writer, Ed wrote a column titled Foundations from the Past in AFA’s The Stand magazine, which also appears in the July-August issue of The Christian Worldview Journal to be released soon.