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Highway Eighty-Eight wrote:

The decline of America is simply a reflection of the overall decline in Protestantism, and slowly, but more steadily, Catholicism and Christianity, Islam, Judaism, the Hindus, and even more slowly, Buddhism.

The Protestant world declines the quickest today as a direct result of its foundation: the rejection of tradition, authority, ritual and initiation, and it’s confidence in reducing everything to belief and the mind. The relativism of today is a natural child of the Protestant Solas, Utopian pretensions to the literal and absolute equality of primitive man. For all the evils, perversions, superstitions, and faults that might have arisen from Catholicism, there is not one which has caused such a swift and terrible retreat amongst Men back towards chaos, atheism, credulity, amorality, and infidelity as that unparalleled invention of Protestantism: Sola Fide, the insistence that simply believing one’s belief to be right is enough to justify oneself before God and Man.

I have to disagree. That is quite a broad brush considering the aim of Reformed Christianity is to conform oneself (semper reformata) to the ancient catholic, orthodox, and evangelical faith once and for all handed to the saints. There are libertines on and in all sides in all large enough groups, sects, and denominations. Antinomianism and the liberalisation of Christianity is a phenomena warned against, as is the opposite error of legalism. Each extreme is more successful in some areas and times than others.

My argument would be quite to the contrary. Relativism is a child of rejecting God's glory, His Christ, salvation by grace through faith, and living according to the Word. Sola Fide (as it was later encapsulated) was a response to the Vatican encouraging the purchase God's favor through money or works. The equivalent is modern day televangelist telling people that God will bless them if they send him/her their money.

Sola Fide is solely trusting in the work of Christ on the cross for our salvation in order to be justified by God, not by offering God our works, or our money to be justified. (John 3:16-17; Romans 4:21, 5:1; Ephesians 2:9) We are not saved by our good works, but God saves us for good works. (Ephesians 2:8-10). This is different from nuda fide, naked faith without any fruition of good works that follow (James 2:14-19).

What has screwed up mankind is mankind. Anywhere there is one person there is a problem. Anywhere there are more than two people, there are problems aplenty. God offers to save us from ourselves. He gives us a rule to live by. And gives us family, friends, and community to learn to love, serve, and to cherish each other and Him thereby. When done well there is Liberty (Leviticus 25:10; John 8:32, 2 Corinthians 3:17) when not done well or at all their is tyranny, misery, and a myriad of evils.