Imagine yourself back in the struggling 13 colonies during the time when they were fighting against the tyranny of King George. Suppose that Thomas Jefferson, when asked how he felt about the colonies stand for freedom said, "I'm sorry, I just don't have the time right now." What if John Adams, who, when faced with a lackadaisical Congress said, "Nobody else cares, why should I knock myself out?" And, what if our nation's celebrated father, George Washington, who, when asked to lead the Colonial forces against the British replied, "Valley Forge is too cold; I'd rather sit home with Martha by the fire."

Now, we all know these men never said these words and we know that we live in the year 2000 and not the 1770s. But, our country is facing challenges that are, nonetheless, as serious as those our forefathers faced. And, yet, somehow, our national ethos of hard work and public service has given way to abject apathy.

Recently, this new ethos was driven home to me when, like many people this summer, my family and I were subjected to several airline foul-ups and delays due to mechanical troubles with both Continental and Alaska Airlines. Just waiting hours with our children in various airports was an exercise in endurance, to be sure.

At one point, we were stuck in Cleveland, Ohio. If ever there was a candidate for Airline Passenger Hell, surely the airport in Cleveland is at the top of the list.

While waiting in Cleveland, I tried to get my family some food at a Burger King, one of three very limited eating areas in our terminal. There were at least four workers there, standing around doing little more than telling crude jokes and looking unhappy with passengers who dared to invade their domain. They were most definitely not doing what they were being paid to do; the food was cold and the floors and tables were dirty. When I asked to have our food reheated, it was done grudgingly and the food I got back was still cold.

I finally just gave the food back instead of paying and walked out with my family. We then went to a Sbarro's for pizza – where things were pretty much the same.

Our experiences are not unique. I constantly hear people complain about the low quality of service in a variety of industries. Fewer and fewer voters show-up at the polls every year. Government officials increasingly use their power for personal gain rather than for public service. What has happened to pride of workmanship? To quality? To patriotism?

What has happened to our national ethos?

At the risk of sounding like I'm giving in to conspiracy theories, let me describe for you a series of contemporary events that are seemingly unrelated but which, together, go a long way toward explaining why things are the way they are. Consider the following:

• About 50 years ago, we began kicking God out of our schools and government. Since then, our schools have systematically revised history to support perverse "multicultural" agendas and our children have grown-up unaware of the significant, primary details relating to our nation's origins. In particular, fewer people than ever before, now know that our nation was founded by people seeking the freedom to worship God without government interference.

• Taxes have rapidly climbed over the last 40 years to support various government social programs; the need to have both parents working has become an economic necessity in many homes.

• Latch-key children were left to figure out their morals and values on their own (or from their new babysitter, the television). Promiscuous sex, drugs, teen pregnancy, abortion, adultery and violence became our new morality. Families began breaking down, divorce rates have soared, and fatherless children are all too common.

• Involvement in wars like Vietnam, Somalia, Haiti and Yugoslavia have been demoralizing failures. Meanwhile, little has been done to counter real threats like China, North Korea and Iraq.

• Our politicians have brazenly become more perverse, corrupt and self-serving. Indeed, it now appears that people in the Clinton administration may have committed treason by accepting political donations from the Chinese while also allowing secrets critical to our national security to fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

• Information overload (television, junk mail, the Internet) has left many of us struggling to keep-up with our world. What was once outrageous is now the norm and few of us have the time or energy to write letters or effectively organize to counter the constant assaults on our legal system.

• It has been determined that it is OK to burn our flag.

• Our new paper currency looks terrible.

• The federal assault on the rights of individuals and states (via the 10th Amendment) is rapidly increasing.

• Our military has been systematically broken apart by the Clinton administration: compelled U.N. servitude, low pay, forced vaccinations of a highly questionable vaccine, acceptance of homosexuals in the military, broken-down equipment and wide-scale departures of our most talented and experienced military people are now the norm.

• The State Of The World Forum, which meets next month, is composed of a wide variety of world leaders and is pushing hard for global governance instead of national sovereignty. It is part of silent, decades-long push for world government.

Are you getting the picture yet, folks? Do you really wonder why so few people have pride in themselves, their work or their nation? We are being systematically worn down and demoralized individually and collectively. World government is being promoted and our national identity and sovereignty is being assaulted because we are too tired and fed-up to care anymore.

Indeed, one can make a clear case that much of this is likely due to the influence and conspiratorial nature of pro-world government organizations like the United Nations, the Millennium Assembly And Summit, the G8 (Group Of Eight), the Organization Of Economic Cooperation And Development, the Bank Of International Settlements, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Westminster UNA, the One World Trust, the Commission For Global Governance, the Royal Commonwealth Society, the World Trade Organization, the World Federalists Association, the Earth Council and the State Of The World Forum. Even the so-called "most trusted man in America", Walter Cronkite, has gone on record supporting world government.

But, I would argue that literally all of what troubles us individually and as a nation – and our apathy about it – can be traced back to when we began to remove God from our lives. The "separation of church and state" is a mythical phrase that does not exist in our Constitution. Rather, the First Amendment statement that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." was clearly intended to prevent politicians from meddling into the affairs of specific church organizations – not to prevent God from being an integral part of the morality which is the foundation of our legal system.

Yet, perversely, as a nation we have increasingly walked away from God despite the fact that our nation's very existence is due to people seeking the freedom to worship Him. What will happen if we fail to return to Him who has caused us to be so blessed and prosperous? (Hint: This is a pop quiz ... for the answers, take a few minutes to open your Bible and read Matthew 24, Romans 1, and John 3). Are we so arrogant as to think we can even figuratively spit in the face of our Creator without dire consequences?

Be assured, the day will indeed arrive sooner than many people realize when we will no longer cling to a national ethos of apathy. Stay tuned everyone: The worst – and the best – is yet to come.