Why the Bible is turning to dust and God is becoming only a word

Okay, since no one else was biting, guess I'll give it a crack. To clarify the argument, I will be arguing Pro-Christianity has become weaker, since that really seems to be the tone of the pre-debate argument in your statement. As such, this is not an argument over whether or not Christianity is right or wrong, or if it's right or wrong for becoming weaker or not, simply whether or not it has, and reasoning backing up said claim. As for my argument, I would argue that it has become weaker, in the following ways. Direct Power 1- As you have said, Christian teachings at one point, could hold the power of life or death over an individual. Furthermore, at multiple points through history, Christian teachings held heavy sway over politics. Examples include events such as the Crusades, or being killed by stoning for being an adulterous wife. At one point, governments bowed to Church (some variant thereof) doctrine. Church influenced most of European power 2- This is no longer the case. As an example, going against the Church used to be capable of altering an individuals entire life. Galileo, for example, was believed to have insulted the Pope at the time, and as a result, was placed under house arrest for the rest of his days. In America, in Salem, if you were claimed to be a witch, you could be killed. Now faster forward a few centuries. The pope visits America. Now, in the old days, they put someone under house arrest because they thought they insulted him. Today, despite there being several protesters against him, none of them were placed under house arrest (They were fined in some cases, but that seems to be the worse punishment). So I think it is fair to say that in terms of direct power, yes, the church is weaker. However, the meat of your argument seems to be about the weakening of influence on behaviors, or at least, in the reasoning behind the behaviors. I would argue that part of it is in fact what I have laid out. The Church, throughout history, has used punishment as a means of reinforcing that certain behaviors are wrong, such as heresy, or witchcraft. It used to be life altering punishments they could dish out, such as the ones mentioned. However, they can no longer execute such punishments. The only punishment still present is the claim that the people who go against the teachings, will burn in Hell. Well, here's the thing. A punishment only really gains traction as a deterrent when it is demonstrable. Say the Church showed everyone a person being tossed into Damnation. It'd probably encourage everyone to act according to the Christian teachings. However, without it being demonstrable, it loses its effectiveness. At the same time, the only rewards as of right now for following Church teachings, are Heaven, and possibly influence with the Church, which hasn't lost ALL of it's power. Heaven falls under the same issue as Hell: Non-demonstrable. Influence with the church becomes weaker as an incentive the weaker the Church becomes. So the issue is, there are no longer any rewards or punishments to encourage the behaviors desired. Church has become separated from someone's everyday life (for some people), due to the degradation of active power that the Church can bring against it.