About the West going to the dustbin of history, I agree wholeheartedly.
«The reality? these are the very best of times to be Christian in the West.»
Really? This seems a non-sequitur to me. Your reasoning boils down to:
A. This is the wealthiest age in the history of mankind (I agree)
C. Hence, this is the best of times to be Christian in the West (I don’t agree).
Of course, as William Lane Craig says, C does not follow from B and there must be a hidden premise. IMHO, the hidden premise is:
B. The wealthier an age is, the easier is to be Christian.
B is not warranted. In fact, history and geography proves that poorer ages and poorer countries are more religious. As a missionary friend of mine used to say, «if the harvest is good, they will stop believing in God». People look for God only in hard times. We are a bunch of bastards.
In my country, about 60 years ago, my grandfather had it easy to be Christian. Everybody was Christian and nobody could conceive another worldview. Atheism was unheard of. Liberalism was unheard of. Islam, Buddhism and even Protestantism were unheard of. Now I have Muslim neighbors and most of my neighbors are not Christian.
My grandfather was taught by Christian teachers, instead of my nephews, who are currently being taught by anti-Christian teachers. All mass media were Catholic, instead of current anti-Christian media. All people (family and friends) were Catholic. The entire life was arranged around the Catholic calendar and the Catholic faith. A different way of life was unthinkable. The only psychologists were the priests in confession.
It was difficult for my grandfather to sin sexually, because sexual sin was completely forbidden in my country. Contraceptives and abortion did not exist. Marriage was for life and divorce was forbidden. Adultery was a crime. When you wanted a public job, you had to give a «Certificate of Good Behavior», written by a parish priest.
Fast-forward 60 years. I won’t speak the problem of conciliating the Christian worldview with science or Bible criticism (my grandfather had no such problem). Most times I go to Mass in my country, I am the youngest one (I am 49 years old). The next youngest one is about 80 years old.
People are completely against Christianity, ranging from disinterest to pure hate. Sexual sin is widespread and sexual temptations are easy and numerous. Profanation of churches is not uncommon.
It would be nice to use the Church as a shelter, but you can’t. When I want to go to confession, the priests do not have any confession schedule. Many priests do not follow the Christian doctrine. The Pope is making ceremonies to worship a pagan goddess inside the Vatican.
Sometimes I think: «What if I am the one who has it wrong? When people attack God in the most humiliating way, where is God? Am I wasting my life making sacrifices for a God (the Christian God) that does not exist?». And I am the most religious person in my family, by far.