Abraham: One Nomad's Amazing Journey of Faith

by Charles R. Swindoll

Dr. Carle Zimmerman, a Harvard sociologist who examined the rise and fall of empires through the centuries, paid close attention to the correlation between family life and national life. His book Family and Civilization concludes that deteriorating civilizations follow a reasonably definable pattern and that “atomistic families” dominate the social landscape in decaying cultures. When civilizations began to unravel, they had five characteristics in common. Marriage lost its sacredness, divorce became commonplace, and alternative forms of marriage were accepted. Feminist movements undermined complementary and cooperating roles as women lost interest in mothering and pursued personal power. Parenting became increasingly difficult, public disrespect for parents and authority increased, and delinquency and promiscuity became more commonplace. Adultery was celebrated, not punished; people who broke their marriage vow were admired. There was increased tolerance for incestuous and homosexual sex, with an increase in sex-related crime.[40] Zimmerman’s conclusions are so current, they’re frightening. He appears to have observed the United States in the twenty-first century and then summarized his findings. In fact, he wrote them in 1947, at the dawn of what many would consider the golden age of the nuclear family. His study of history and sociology was purely academic, not a reaction to what he saw as the decline of America. While his description of a doomed civilization describes ...