Over the last decade or so, several books and articles have posited a rather optimistic set of projections about the Millennials?the generation born between 1982 and 1999. The typical thesis is that the Millennials are helpful, civically oriented young adults who desire to save the world. This view has recently been challenged, arguing instead that the Millennials evidence an entitlement mentality, are self-centered, and uninterested in anything other than their own virtual world of Facebook, Twitter and their I-Phone. Which is it? Are they the ?Me-Generation or the We Generation,? to quote Jean Twenge author of the book, Generation-Me?

Whatever your view of the role biblical Christianity played in the founding of America, intellectual honesty demands that one recognize that religion, religious values and specifically Christianity have all played a defining role in the development of American civilization. . . Whether one agrees with all of these various American developments or not, biblical Christianity was central in explaining each one of them. But there is growing evidence that that central role of biblical Christianity no longer exists in America. Is America becoming increasingly secular, with little or no religious influence in ethical, social, economic or political decision-making?

Over two years ago, Syria was a relatively stable nation and Damascus, its capital (the world?s oldest continually inhabited city), was a stable city with a mixture of Christians and Muslims who lived reasonably well together. Since 1973, Syria and Israel had agreed to tolerate one another and the result was a stable border along the Golan Heights. Much of this stability was due to the brutal rule of the Assad family, an Alawite clan family that has ruled Syria since 1970. . . But that Syria no longer exists.

Twenty-five years ago, same-sex marriage was a ?thought experiment? in our culture. It was an idea promoted primarily by those on the left and other cultural radicals who saw few boundaries to personal freedom and behavior. But as the gay and lesbian movement re-framed human sexuality as a matter of personal freedom and liberty, not ethics, legitimizing same-sex marriage was not far behind. It was only 17 years ago that Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) decisively. Only a year ago, President Obama still opposed same-sex marriage. But, today, all the national momentum is behind same-sex marriage. It is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. . . .In effect, the definition of marriage is now on the line and legitimizing same-sex marriage seems imminent. How should we think about this momentous set of developments?

Almost exactly fifty years ago, Betty Friedan published her bombshell, The Feminine Mystique, which argued, among other things, that traditional gender roles had compartmentalized women as homemakers?both their and culture?s detriment. Arguably, Friedan?s book was the manifesto of the feminist revolution. Laws and cultural norms changed as equal treatment of and more professional opportunities for women increased. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, has just published Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. . . Permit me a few thoughts on this important book, for it says much about where our culture is and how our culture continues to process basic gender differences.

Over the last few years, we have been bombarded with apocalyptic phrases such as ?fiscal cliff,? ?sequestration,? ?entitlement cliff,? and the persistent debt ceiling crisis. All of these are real issues and reflect the unwillingness of our governmental leaders to address the serious financial condition of America. But a recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Jonathan V. Last summarizes an even deeper crisis, one that captures one of the real causes of our nation?s financial crisis: A serious demographic cliff?the declining fertility rate in the United States. [The fertility rate is the number of children an average woman bears over the course of her life.] The fertility replacement rate is 2.1. Therefore, if the average woman has more children than that, the population grows; fewer children and it contracts.

There is a resistance in some parts of our culture to the idea of American exceptionalism: The conviction that America has developed differently than say Western Europe. Our political and our economic system is different than Europe?and intentionally so. Because America rejected the idea of a state church, the prolific religious pluralism of America has also influenced how it has developed as a civilization. America is different from Western Europe and much of this difference results from choices we have made as a civilization.

That young men and even young boys are confused about who they are, what is acceptable behavior for them and what exactly it means to be an adult male is now a given in American culture. This confusion is an unintended consequence of the feminist revolution in our culture, and two authors have been documenting this crisis for several years now. They are making a compelling case that American culture is failing its boys and that the impact of this failure is devastating. Let me explain.

The cultural left?s strategy on human sexuality is shifting?and it seems to be working. In the 1970s and 1980s, the cultural left, perhaps learning a lesson from the pro-abortion forces, began to wrap any discussion of sexuality around the treasured cover of rights, freedom and liberty. As abortion is a guaranteed right, so is being a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person. Therefore, the government, the church, the broader culture or any religious conviction cannot suppress or deny such sexual expression. In terms of sexual activity, the only cultural prohibition seems to be rape and pedophilia; virtually everything else is permissible and acceptable.

That the family is the bedrock institution of civilization is a given. But what constitutes a family is now being debated, and increasingly the state is taking over more of the family?s function. As a Christian, it is difficult for me to see this as a positive development; in fact, I believe it is one of the most worrying developments of the postmodern era. For that reason, I want to focus on the state of the family in this Perspective.