By Mary Faulds, AFA Journal staff writer
September 2009 – The Creation Museum hosted its first-ever live video Web cast June 25, featuring a presentation by Answers in Genesis founder and president Ken Ham on “The State of the Nation.” The Web cast featured Ham discussing the status of Christianity in the U.S., following President Obama’s recent comment that “whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation.”
This event was carried on American Family Association’s network of 200 radio stations, SkyAngel satellite network, and various Web sites, including CreationMuseum.org, OneNewsNow.com, AnswersinGenesis.org, and others.
While Ham acknowledged that America is no longer the great Christian nation it once was, he saw the president’s comments as an outright attack on Christianity. Ham especially noted that the president has subsequently issued statements in support of equal rights for the homosexual community and has gone so far as to proclaim June 2009 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
The issue of whether or not we are a Christian nation is more than a culture war and a clash of worldviews, but comes back to the very foundation of the Bible, Ham said. Issues like abortion and homosexual behavior are merely symptoms of the real problem, and churches have wasted millions of dollars fighting these symptoms rather than getting to the heart of the matter – the Word of God.
Ham explained that for too long, Christians have been looking for a political solution to a spiritual problem. “In order to change the culture,” he said, “we need to see hearts and minds changed.”
As part of the solution, Ham presented the results of a recent study commissioned by the museum’s parent ministry, Answers in Genesis, on why young people leave the evangelical church. The study was conducted by America’s Research Group, under the leadership of Britt Beemer. Beemer and Ham co-authored Already Gone, a book based on the study.
Ham calls for a new Reformation – this one in Christian churches across America, which have stopped teaching the Bible as real history and have only been presenting Bible stories and telling children to “trust Jesus.” Ninety percent of children from evangelical homes attend public schools, where they are almost always taught evolutionary thought. “What they are learning at school and on television is blotting out what the Bible teaches,” Ham said.
If Christian churches can get back to the foundation of the Word of God and teach future generations to trust and defend it, then we can indeed reclaim our nation for Christ. “In a real sense, it’s not that we want to get back to what our Founding Fathers believed,” Ham said, “but we need to get back to the foundation of the Word of God.”
Ham and Beemer conducted a question-and-answer session following “The State of the Nation” to address issues, including those in the America’s Research Group study.
Answers in Genesis estimates at least 85,000 people attempted to tune in for the “The State of the Nation” Web cast on either the Answers in Genesis Web site or the American Family Radio (AFR) site, but the large number overwhelmed the technology.
Answers in Genesis’ hosting service crashed twice due to the incredible number of attempts to log in. However, those listening on the AFR network were not affected.
Because of login problems, free streams were available from some of the Web sites for a limited time. Now the only option to see the program is via DVD. This fast-paced and powerful DVD features over 200 illustrations and video segments. The DVD is available at amazon.com. 
Ken Ham delivers his “The State of the Nation” talk based largely on the research of Britt Beemer. Results of the survey are found in the book Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do To Stop It.
Among the survey results:
• The top reason why the 20-somethings surveyed left church after high school was that services were boring.
• Sunday School is actually more likely to be detrimental to the spiritual and moral health of our children, causing them to be more likely to support legal abortion and homosexual marriage, and to defend premarital sex.
