What Has Happened During My Generation?

At 75 years of age I have lived an entire generation. I can tell you that the world is not what it was when I was growing up, and I am not referring to the advancements in the medical field, in technology, or in any of the things that make our lives easier, like microwave ovens or cell phones. The internet has revolutionized our culture and our personal lives. Yet, all of these things have nothing to do with the character of individuals, and humanity at large.

When I was growing up almost all families had a mom and a dad. Abortion was not even considered an option. We didn’t need gun laws, and yet mass shootings were extremely rare. There were PTA’s- Parent Teacher Associations- where the parents and teachers worked together for the benefit of the student. This included welcoming parents into the classroom to see what their children were being taught, and looking at the textbooks. Government leaders were chosen in fair and legitimate elections by legal citizens voting in person at physical polling places. Living together before marriage was frowned upon, and sex before marriage, a big no-no.
Homosexuality was not out in the open, biological gender was not considered something to change, and marriage was between a man and a woman. There was law and order, and respect for law enforcement. All of this was in the America that once was.

How times have changed! All of what I am going to write next applies to the United States, but since I am writing to a worldwide audience it may or may not apply to the country in which you live. One in four young people are growing up without a father figure in the home. Abortion is not only accepted but funded by the government. There are gun laws, but also many mass shootings. In some school districts parents and teachers are in opposition, with teachers assuming the role of parents, and not giving the parents the right to know what their kids are being programmed to believe. Young children are transgendered at schools without telling the parents. Homosexuality has become accepted by a large portion of the population, and gay marriage has become legalized. Law and order is out of control, and law enforcement officers have been defunded.

What has caused such a dramatic shift in my generation? There are five things I see as reasons.

One, people are not talking very much, seeking to listen to, and understand each other. Many are too addicted to social media and their cell phones. That is their little world. They don’t see the importance of eyeball to eyeball constructive conversations with a real live person.

Two, according to the America First Policy Institute, “across America, 2022 data indicates there are approximately 18.3 million children who live without a father in the home, comprising about 1 in 4 US children,” and they are twice as likely to have mental illness and behavioral problems. Eighty-two percent of shooters in school shootings grew up in an unstable family environment or without both biological parents. So, no fathers in the home is a problem in itself.

Three, improper religious teachings singling out particular groups of people, particularly homosexuals, as sinners, has alienated a very large segment of society. The truth is that each and every person is a sinner in one form or another, in need of God’s forgiveness and grace.

Four, the neglect of reading the Bible and following its teachings has led to a downfall of moral character development. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”  This leads to the fifth reason.

Five, humanity has a sin nature resulting in pride and a “I-can-do-it-my-way” mindset that leaves God totally out of the picture, and has led to what one can read about in Romans chapter one. It says that because people have not given God the honor he deserves, because they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and because they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to dishonorable passions, and to a debased mind to do what not ought to be done. This is basically God saying, “if you choose to live your life any way you want to, I will let you suffer the consequences.”

The only way this downward spiral I have witnessed in my generation is going to stop is for people to recognize that we are all sinners falling far short of God’s standards of righteousness, in need of his grace, and allow him to transform our character from the inside out.

Even though in my generation we didn’t have all the technology and conveniences we have today, we had fewer social problems, because we were more in tune with living by God’s principles.