Ironically, one of the most talked about subjects in today’s culture is sex and yet it is probably one of the least talked about in our churches. Is it any wonder that the next generation has adopted the values of the culture rather than those of the church when it comes to sex?

Previously, I wrote about how the moral descent of the American “empire” closely parallels that of ancient Rome. In the Roman Empire, as sexual activity increased beyond the confines of legal marriage, sexual profligacy worsened, sexual perversion was normalized, and the social benefits essential to a thriving society that marriage fosters, disappeared. Family dissolution increased-fracturing the cornerstone of society-as a result, crime exploded, productivity and creativity diminished, cynicism and apathy ensued; the Empire began to crumble.

I also pointed out that Roman officials, recognizing the societal danger of such licentiousness, enacted laws in an effort to arrest the sexual extravagance and ensuing social decline. Unfortunately, these laws had little effect as the moral consensus, which was accepting of these behaviors, was well established within the culture at large.

Unlike the Romans, however, we once had a number of laws in place that were designed to protect marriage by penalizing “crimes against marriage” through adultery and fornication laws. Such public policy measures were generally supported by the moral consensus that sex was exclusive to marriage.

Over the last four to five decades, these laws have been either ignored or abolished as the moral consensus shifted.

In the sixties, No-Fault divorce was established, ushering in an era of easy divorce, which would eventually produce the highest family dissolution rates in the world. These changes represent both a cause and effect of our increasingly secularized and selfish culture. In the wake of these monumental moral and philosophical changes, marriage has become a “loose and voluntary compact” as it did in ancient Rome.

This is particularly true among those under age 35, of which more than two-thirds now cohabitate prior to marriage; the number of unmarried families has increased steadily since the 1970s and children born to unwed parents have reached historic highs.

So, here in the face of redefining marriage to now include couples of the same sex, it seems unlikely that we will be able to arrest the ongoing erosion of marriage, when over the course of the last fifty years we have been systematically dismantling the very protections that have brought us to this point.

The current moral consensus simply does not appear to support a return to more modest public policies regarding marriage and the natural family and the church is largely compromised (which I will get to). Despite the present futility, I do believe we should always strive-while we still can-to pass legislative measures that promote the well being of individuals and society.

Returning to our historical analysis, it was at the pinnacle of Roman debauchery that the Christian church appeared. As one historian observed, “There was nothing in which they [the Romans] did not indulge or which they thought a disgrace.”

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S. Michael Craven is the President of the Center for Christ & Culture