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2 Chronicles 26:16 records that when King Uzziah increased in power, then "his heart was lifted up to his destruction", after he presumed priestly powers which were not his. In contrast, some of the greatest examples of Godly men in the Bible are those who maintained their faith and spiritual relationship with God in both adversity and abundance, in affliction and affluence, such as [[Job]], [[Daniel]] and the [[apostle Paul]], (Phil. 4:12) in addition to [[Jesus Christ]] Himself. (Heb. 4:15)

2 Chronicles 26:16 records that when King Uzziah increased in power, then "his heart was lifted up to his destruction", after he presumed priestly powers which were not his. In contrast, some of the greatest examples of Godly men in the Bible are those who maintained their faith and spiritual relationship with God in both adversity and abundance, in affliction and affluence, such as [[Job]], [[Daniel]] and the [[apostle Paul]], (Phil. 4:12) in addition to [[Jesus Christ]] Himself. (Heb. 4:15)

In early America, the tendency to drift away from faith in times of prosperity was observed early by Puritan preacher Cotton Mather (1663-1728) who stated, "Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother".<ref>Magnalia Christi Americana (The Great Achievement of Christ in America, 1702)</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=M0_ktxTHhdkC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=cotton+mather+prosperity+is+the+daughter&source=bl&ots=ASEEaFcVMi&sig=-Vzy9Nnl6UcsbreMrpzRTDIOQzM&hl=en&ei=U7nMSvTjGcitlAf59tzNBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=cotton%20mather%20prosperity%20is%20the%20daughter&f=false Leland Ryken, ''Worldly saints: the Puritans as they really were'', p. 63]</ref>   

In early America, the tendency to drift away from faith in times of prosperity was observed early by Puritan preacher Cotton Mather (1663-1728) who stated, "Religion begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother".<ref>Magnalia Christi Americana (The Great Achievement of Christ in America, 1702)</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=M0_ktxTHhdkC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=cotton+mather+prosperity+is+the+daughter&source=bl&ots=ASEEaFcVMi&sig=-Vzy9Nnl6UcsbreMrpzRTDIOQzM&hl=en&ei=U7nMSvTjGcitlAf59tzNBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=cotton%20mather%20prosperity%20is%20the%20daughter&f=false Leland Ryken, ''Worldly saints: the Puritans as they really were'', p. 63]</ref>   

A latter acknowledgment of this guilt and the need to place priorities where they should be was eloquently expressed by President Abraham Lincoln in his ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'', issued in the midst (1863) of the [[American Civil War]], which reads (in part),

A latter acknowledgment of this guilt and the need to place priorities where they should be was eloquently expressed by President Abraham Lincoln in his ''Proclamation for a National Day of Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer'', issued in the midst (1863) of the [[American Civil War]], which reads (in part),

===United Kingdom===

===United Kingdom===

At the hight of the [[British Empire]], Britain had a strongly Christian culture, and there was a strong sense of morality and Victorian values.<ref>Himmelfarb, Gertrude (February 13, 1995). [http://www.aei.org/publication/from-victorian-virtues-to-modern-values/ From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values]. ''American Enterprise Institute''. Retrieved February 22, 2018.</ref> However, in the modern [[United Kingdom]], morality has declined to the point where multiple laws are passed protecting "[[animal rights]]" while the rights of unborn human beings are ignored.<ref>Williams, Thomas D. (February 20, 2018). [http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/02/20/analysis-in-uk-unborn-children-are-taboo-while-animal-protection-thrives/ Analysis: In UK, Unborn Children Are Taboo, While Animal Protection Thrives]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved February 22, 2018.</ref>

At the hight of the [[British Empire]], Britain had a strongly Christian culture, and there was a strong sense of morality and Victorian values.<ref>Himmelfarb, Gertrude (February 13, 1995). [http://www.aei.org/publication/from-victorian-virtues-to-modern-values/ From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values]. ''American Enterprise Institute''. Retrieved February 22, 2018.</ref> However, in the modern [[United Kingdom]], morality has declined to the point where multiple laws are passed protecting "[[animal rights]]" while the rights of unborn human beings are ignored.<ref>Williams, Thomas D. (February 20, 2018). [https://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/02/20/analysis-in-uk-unborn-children-are-taboo-while-animal-protection-thrives/ Analysis: In UK, Unborn Children Are Taboo, While Animal Protection Thrives]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved February 22, 2018.</ref>

===The United States===

===The United States===

In addition, approximately half of all American children learned from the ''[[McGuffey Reader]],'' a series of textbooks of which 122 million copies were published (during a time when the population was much less than today, and books were passed on more). The first Reader was published in the 1830's, and was followed by five additional Readers, the last being published in 1885. This was an advanced teaching system for its time, written by William Holmes McGuffey, who later became a Presbyterian minister, and a work which earned him the title, “the Great Schoolmaster of the Nation.” McGuffey believed religion and education were to be interrelated and were essential to a healthy society. McGuffey exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and used the Bible more than any other source, though the later revised editions (which used McGufey’s name though he neither contributed to them nor approved their revisions) became more pluralistic in their moral instruction. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth, working to instill standards of basic Christian-based morality for more than a century.<ref>http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm</ref>  

In addition, approximately half of all American children learned from the ''[[McGuffey Reader]],'' a series of textbooks of which 122 million copies were published (during a time when the population was much less than today, and books were passed on more). The first Reader was published in the 1830's, and was followed by five additional Readers, the last being published in 1885. This was an advanced teaching system for its time, written by William Holmes McGuffey, who later became a Presbyterian minister, and a work which earned him the title, “the Great Schoolmaster of the Nation.” McGuffey believed religion and education were to be interrelated and were essential to a healthy society. McGuffey exalted the Lord Jesus Christ, and used the Bible more than any other source, though the later revised editions (which used McGufey’s name though he neither contributed to them nor approved their revisions) became more pluralistic in their moral instruction. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth, working to instill standards of basic Christian-based morality for more than a century.<ref>http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm</ref>  

McGuffey Readers became the standardized reading text for most schools across the United States, especially throughout the West and South, during the mid to late nineteenth century,<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15577 Henry H. Vail, ''A History of the McGuffey Readers'']</ref><ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1469 McGuffey's Reader]</ref> and were used widely in America until just after World War I. This resulted in the Readers becoming a unifying force in American culture, giving America a common value-laden body of literary reference and allusion,<ref>Cranney, A. Garr, 'Noah Webster and William Holmes McGuffey: The Men and Their Contributions to Reading''</ref> and “a sense of common experience and of common possession”.<ref>Historian Henry Steele Commager</ref>     

McGuffey Readers became the standardized reading text for most schools across the United States, especially throughout the West and South, during the mid to late nineteenth century,<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/15577 Henry H. Vail, ''A History of the McGuffey Readers'']</ref><ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1469 McGuffey's Reader]</ref> and were used widely in America until just after World War I. This resulted in the Readers becoming a unifying force in American culture, giving America a common value-laden body of literary reference and allusion,<ref>Cranney, A. Garr, 'Noah Webster and William Holmes McGuffey: The Men and Their Contributions to Reading''</ref> and “a sense of common experience and of common possession”.<ref>Historian Henry Steele Commager</ref>     

The first elementary schools also taught Christian morality, and even the [[Unitarian]] (a religion which essentially denies Christ and Divine biblical authority, but which then overall upheld Bible morality, much unlike it does today) ''Father of the Common School'', Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 — August 2, 1859), who became Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837, not only understood the impossibility of separating education from religious moral beliefs, but held that it was lawful to teach the truths of the general Christian faith, asserting that the “laws of Massachusetts required the teaching of the basic moral doctrines of Christianity.” Mann, who supported prohibition of alcohol and intemperance, slavery and lotteries,<ref>http://www.famousamericans.net/horacemann</ref>  dreaded “intellectual eminence when separated from virtue”, and that education, if taught without moral responsibilities, would produce more evil than it inherited.<ref>William Jeynes, “American educational history: school, society, and the common good,” p. 149, 150</ref>   

The first elementary schools also taught Christian morality, and even the [[Unitarian]] (a religion which essentially denies Christ and Divine biblical authority, but which then overall upheld Bible morality, much unlike it does today) ''Father of the Common School'', Horace Mann (May 4, 1796 — August 2, 1859), who became Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837, not only understood the impossibility of separating education from religious moral beliefs, but held that it was lawful to teach the truths of the general Christian faith, asserting that the “laws of Massachusetts required the teaching of the basic moral doctrines of Christianity.” Mann, who supported prohibition of alcohol and intemperance, slavery and lotteries,<ref>http://www.famousamericans.net/horacemann</ref>  dreaded “intellectual eminence when separated from virtue”, and that education, if taught without moral responsibilities, would produce more evil than it inherited.<ref>William Jeynes, “American educational history: school, society, and the common good,” p. 149, 150</ref>   

==External links==

==External links==

*[http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html RevealingStatistics]

*[http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html RevealingStatistics]

*[http://books.google.com/books?id=08yN1Oyk2ZAC&dq=Frothingham++%22History+of+the+Rise+of+the+Republic&source=gbs_navlinks_s Richard Frothingham, ''The rise of the republic of the United States'']

*[https://books.google.com/books?id=08yN1Oyk2ZAC&dq=Frothingham++%22History+of+the+Rise+of+the+Republic&source=gbs_navlinks_s Richard Frothingham, ''The rise of the republic of the United States'']

== References ==

== References ==