SocietyWatch
U.S. on pace for record immigration
American border officials will likely encounter at least 1.1 million illegal migrants crossing the southern border by the end of the 2018–2019 fiscal year, said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Ross Johnson on July 30. The number of illegal immigrants apprehended so far this year exceeds records from 2014 and the 1990s. The number of migrants who elude border agents is unknowable.
By the end of June this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had encountered 905,926 migrants, according to the Washington Examiner. Of those, 694,229 were illegal, more than double the 2017 figure of 310,000.
The Bible prophesies in Deuteronomy 28 that if Israel turns away from God, then its “high and fenced walls” will come down, and foreigners will “get up above thee very high.” This is being fulfilled in the modern descendants of ancient Israel, as wave upon wave of illegal immigrants surge across the border.
U.S. gun sales surge
After mass shootings at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and a downtown entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio, on August 3-4, more Americans are buying guns. Many of these buyers are first-time buyers seeking concealed weapon licenses, handguns and concealed carry training classes.
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System shows that the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted nearly 16 million background checks from January 1 to July 31. This means that 2019 is on track to be the biggest year for U.S. gun sales since 2016, when prospective gun owners feared that gun-control advocate Hillary Clinton would be elected president.
Meanwhile, America’s racial tensions are being inflamed by the blame placed on “white supremacy” for mass shootings. People are afraid, tensions are palpable, and an outbreak of violence seems near.
The threats that gun buyers are concerned about are real, but Bible prophecy shows that proliferation of guns and weapons will actually exacerbate violence. “A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee …” (Ezekiel 5:12). The word translated pestilence means destruction or death.
With the calls for tighter gun laws being driven partly by the perceived problem of white supremacist shooters, we could be on the precipice of seeing these two volatile issues—guns and race—converge dangerously. The 300 million guns currently owned by private U.S. citizens will cause a lot of death when civilized society unravels.
Poll: American patriotism at 18-year low
According to a Gallup poll released on July 2, fewer Americans than ever are extremely proud of their country. Fewer than half of American adults were “extremely proud” to be American, an 18-year low, and 3 percent are not proud at all. Only 22 percent of those who support the Democratic Party said they were very proud to be American.
In the introduction to his booklet Great Again, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes: “Do you believe the United States of America has been mainly a positive force in the world for most of its history? Do you have a favorable view of the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, separation of powers, rule of law, Manifest Destiny, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, free-market economy and America’s role in World Wars I and II? If you do, then surely you are deeply alarmed by the state of America today. … Even the nation’s leaders see them as shameful. On many foundational issues, they share the views of America’s worst enemies!”
Pedophiliac problems in the Boy Scouts
On August 5, attorneys filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania, accusing the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) of “a continuing and serious conspiracy to conceal and cover up” sexual assaults against children. The attorneys have identified 350 alleged abusers, and nearly 800 alleged victims. Their lawsuit accuses the organization of failing to adequately protect its members.
Some of these sex abuse accusations go back to the 1940s, but the moral leadership of BSA has plummeted dramatically over just the past decade. In 2013, the national executive board of the BSA voted to allow boys openly involved in homosexual activity into the organization. Two years later, the executive board voted to end a ban on homosexual scout leaders. Two years later, the executive board voted to allow transgender boys into the program.
The first edition of the Boy Scout Handbook, printed in 1911, contained a special scout oath: “On my honor, I will do my best: to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” Now Boy Scouts of America is succumbing to the dishonorable, godless, unpatriotic and morally evil society around it.
