“There is a segment of our society that is ready to blame President Obama for everything, including America’s moral disintegration.

Although Obama’s election and reelection were manifestations of America’s decline, he is not the cause of it. And although Hilary Clinton’s election would be the final nail in the coffin of the America we once knew, she will not be responsible for it either.

So who is responsible for placing society’s body over the bottomless pit of moral decay? I, for one, place the entire blame at the feet of some church leaders—those who actively worked to obliterate the biblical moral code, and those who, by their silence, essentially acquiesced to its destruction.

It was in the 1980s that the Episcopal Church not only pushed acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle (under the guise of “love and anti-discrimination”), but then to prove their point, ordained practicing homosexuals into the priesthood. Then, instead of condemning the Episcopal Church for its departure from God’s creation blueprint, the Presbyterians, soon to be joined by the Methodists, felt that they must join in the destruction. For who on God’s earth wants to be branded as someone who “discriminates”?

Now here we are in 2015, and we’re watching many Bible-waving, evangelical televangelists following the same parade route into the abyss. But why not? Why become unpopular with society? Why get buried under the avalanche of the new morality?

When I was part of the Episcopal Church, the arguments given by our homosexual friends were very simple: “We just want to be able to visit our partners in the hospital . . . become beneficiaries of their estates . . . collect social security . . . etc., etc.” But most discerning people could see that was merely the camel’s nose under the tent.

Most of my friends and former colleagues, however, could never image the day when one could be fined or even go to prison if they didn’t sanction, participate, or otherwise approve of such departure from God’s created order.

I know I’ll be called every name in the book, but it’s too late to avoid that. I’ve already been called everything there is to be called. But that’s not the issue. God knows my heart, and I hate no one, no matter how much I disagree with them. But I won’t compromise God’s truth.

The U.S. Supreme Court may soon make its most tragic decision since Roe vs. Wade with the upcoming ruling on same-sex marriage. Soon Bible-believing Christians in America may face the form of suffering that ISIS is inflicting upon believers in the Middle East. Then we will need to remember our forebears in the early church who considered it a privilege to die for Christ.

For me, that possibility represents the greatest of ironies. I escaped from the Middle East some 45 years ago to seek freedom and avoid persecution. But now, here I am in this one-time land of freedom, facing the prospect of persecution and imprisonment with thousands of other Christ-loving pastors.

In the Day of Judgment, it will be the church leaders who led us down this path who will pay the highest price. May God have mercy on their souls.”

Michael Youssef at MichaelYoussef.com