Sermonette: November 21, 2022

 Reading City of God by Saint Augustine, was an important element in my conversion story. In the lengthy book composed of multiple sections, Saint Augustine attempts to answer the question: Why did the Christian Roman Empire fall? In the process, using a Socratic method approach, he painstakingly asks and answers virtually every question that one would have regarding Christianity and what life was like in the Roman Empire.

 One line of questions that I found fascinating concerned what Roman citizens did for entertainment during the evenings. Night after night they would go to theatres and watch performances by actors depicting the Roman gods engaging in immoral acts. As time went on the depravity of the acts became worse and worse. Because the Roman citizens were exposed to this type of entertainment repeatedly, they began to imitate them on a regular basis. As it became more commonplace, the morality of the entire culture began to decline rapidly. Instead of blaming the bad behavior that was being imitated from theatre performances as the reason why the economy was starting to crumble and their military might beginning to weaken, the Roman citizenry blamed Christianity. In fact, the society began to believe that natural disasters were occurring on a more regular basis because the gods were displeased. They believed the gods felt that the Roman citizens were depicting them as not depraved enough and that they were not being imitated well enough. You can see the vicious cycle that was occurring. Morality was declining rapidly and anyone who spoke out against what was happening, mainly Christians, were seen as the source of the problem instead of the solution.

 As the society became morally bankrupt, business enterprises, instead of being concerned with the betterment of society, were focused on how Roman citizens could spend more leisure time and better imitate gods like Bacchus with greater drink, mirth, and revelry. Eventually, there were bouts of inflation when not only the morals of the culture were debased, but the currency as well. The military too became weak and lacked resolve as it was victimized by the fall of the culture.

 Christianity was not the reason for the fall of the Roman Empire. A declining morality that started with the desensitization of the culture by watching immoral theatre performances night after night was largely the cause. Do we see any similarities with what happened in the Roman Empire with what is occurring in our own culture today? The answer is sadly, yes.

 Instead of going to theatres and watching performances each night, Americans can simply stay in their homes and watch what is being broadcast to their televisions by producers pushing whatever the agenda of the day happens to be. The influence is immense. Repeated exposure to violence, promiscuity, alternative life styles, and other forms of government desensitizes the viewing public after time. One can simply observe how the subject matter and content of television shows evolved from the 1950s to the 1960s to the 1970s to the 1980s...to today. As seen in Roman culture, the morality of the "performances" slowly began to decline then pick up downward momentum during later decades. Those watching the television shows are desensitized to the subject matter to which they would have originally objected. Then later they embrace the concept, attempt to imitate it, then promote it.

 While this time there are no gods who are being imitated, there nevertheless appears to be a vicious cycle that is bringing the trajectory of the morality of the subject matter downward. If we do not do something to reverse the cycle, it is likely we may see in the future other features of Roman society in our own. These include business enterprises focused more on leisure and pleasure than on the betterment of society, runaway inflation as the debasement of the currency matches the culture, and a military that lacks the resolve to fight when necessary.

 Whether you agree with my premise of the reason for the fall of the Roman Empire or not; The solution to the problems of our own society may start with asking the simple question: Is what I am watching good for me?