Looking for hope in a dying world.

With the stronger trend towards secularism and moral decrepitude in the United States, as well as a weakened church, I find it easier to understand just why so many people think that Jesus Christ will return in their lifetime. Namely, that this conclusion can be attributed to wishful thinking. I attribute my own recent feelings of anxiety both to this decline and the fact that my own personal moral weaknesses act not only as a reflection of America's moral decline, but also a possible indication that even Christianity might not be capable of saving it.

The modern church is shallow and the modern Christian is uneducated at best. We can already see the tole that this is taking on the American people. Recent surveys (http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exis) have shown that most Christians do not understand what Christianity actually is. Many critics of Christianity have little understanding of what they criticize, but how is this to be of any surprise when its proponents don't have an understanding of it either?

Our modern society relies too much on pleasure and not enough on thought. When someone with as much of a poor understanding of logic as Richard Dawkins is being lauded as great intellectual giant, it is safe to say that we are in serious trouble. Having read much of the God Delusion, I can say that if that man ever had a meaningful thought regarding religion/philosophy, it died of loneliness.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to get at in this message, because I see no solution to our problems. I've tried to make an effort towards the cause of Christ through online debate, but I'm coming more and more to the realization that arguing with idiots over the internet doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. Over the past month I've drifted between anxiety, shame, and nihilism. I'm feeling somewhat better after this diatribe, but have little comfort as I know I'll likely feel just as bad in due time.