Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

We rode bikes to the park today with my kids and it was a fine trip. However, there was a group of muslims at the park probably celebrating a birthday or something of that sort, and seeing their covered women and the thoughts in my head troubled me a bit.

I thought of how exclusive islam is: how they do have morals, but in a very bigoted way the rules are different for muslims and non-muslims. For example, stealing and adultery are stricktly forbidden, but for a non-muslim, there is no protection under those laws. Their women do not exercise the freedoms we take for granted and worst of all, muslims are a fast growing demographic in the west and around the world.

Suddenly I stopped my train of thought and realised that was I was considering was purely from a worldly point of view: how communities look, what freedoms I have, what freedoms my daughters have etc. And I realised my mistake: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:2)
The fall of the western civilization is a) not a thing to be concerned about in itself and b) caused by the spark of God's blessing being snuffed out by minds set on worldly things, instead of drawing near to the love of Jesus Christ, the redeemer of all mankind.

God wants us to thrive, but our thriving will start to wane the moment we turn our sights away from Jahweh God to our worldly affairs as objects to pursue.