On Spiritual Training

This reading from Alan Taylor's The Civil War of 1812:

To become proper soldiers, men needed to accept subordination to the orders of their officers... But the republic bred citizens who balked at the regimentation of military life.  Colonel Edmund P. Gaines lamented "The ordinary operation of civil affairs, in our beloved country, is as deadly hostile to every principle of military discipline, as a complete military government would be to a democracy... Every individual composing [the army] must leave at home all of what are considered to be the choicest fruits of republicanism." ...disciplining troops was hard enough for the British, who came from a stratified society which allotted honour to gentlemen and hardship to commoners. Compared to the more egalitarian Americans, British soldiers more readily accepted orders from their officers (p. 319-320)

It's a telling admission: that the culture of American society of the time, with its emphasis on individual liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and seeking after ones' own dreams, created citizens who were unprepared to accept the discipline necessary for effective military service.  Given that the New Testament authors and scores of other Christian writers since then have often compared our own spiritual development to the waging of war (put on the armour of God, anyone?) you have to wonder to what extent our spiritual discipline is undermined by our own society, which surely surpasses the early American republic in its emphasis on personal entitlement and pleasure.