America was once a better place to live.

From the Evansville Courier-Press:

Joseph Gleason/reader columnist
Friday, February 27, 2009

I love my grandparents. I love to learn about the world they grew up in. And a part of me wishes I could travel back in time to raise my family then.

My grandpa, Cliff , was born in 1903, my grandma, Alta, in 1907. There was no such thing as "income tax." If my grandpa's dad earned a dollar, he got to bring it home in one piece.

Cliff worked to support the family, and Alta stayed home to nurture the children. The family Bible was a central focus. They raised good food in the family garden. And instead of only listening to the radio, they spent time singing and playing music together.

Children were still considered a blessing. Birth control and abortion were illegal. As the last of six children, my aunt Doris was in no danger of being either avoided or eradicated by her parents. Doris now has grandchildren of her own, and they are quite thankful that their grandmother was born. My own dad was the third child, so I'm glad my grandparents didn't stop with two.

Homosexuality was rejected by the church and also by lawmakers and psychologists. And in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published in 1952, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) listed homosexuality as a mental disorder.

With few exceptions, stores were closed on Sunday. Store owners did not worry about competition, because their competitors were also closed on Sunday. In reverence to God's gracious fourth commandment, our nation got a day of rest each week, making time available for worshiping Jesus, and for spending time with family.

America has gone downhill since the days of my grandparents.

Early In 1913, our federal government instituted the income tax. It has gotten worse since then; so now a huge portion of every paycheck goes to Uncle Sam.

In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that laws prohibiting contraception were unconstitutional.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that laws prohibiting abortion were unconstitutional, citing Griswold v. Connecticut as precedent.

In 1974, after gay activists protested at several APA annual conferences, the APA reclassified homosexuality in the DSM, no longer calling it a mental disorder. Instead, they called it a "sexual orientation disturbance."

Most businesses run seven days a week now. No day of rest.

America was a better place to live in the days of my grandparents. The laws and the culture were more in-tune with the Bible.

Scripture prohibits government taxation beyond 10 percent of your income. The Bible teaches that children are blessings, neither to be avoided (birth control) nor murdered (abortion). The Bible teaches that homosexuality is wicked. And the Bible teaches us to rest one day in seven.

I want to live in a country where the laws match the pattern of the Bible.

In the early 20th century, the United States of America looked more like that pattern.