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Of course there are those who do care, whether they are Christian or not, and there are those who don't. But I wonder if there are more who don't care than there are who do care?
I just now walked back from the grocery store. As I was walking, some kid who looked to be about 16 or 17 came up to me and said that he had just been hired for a job and needed to take a urine test. And with a smile on his face and with no sense of shame or guilt, he asked me if I would take the urine test for him. I said 'no' of course, at which which point he offered me ten dollars if I would take the test. I again said 'no' and waved him away with my hand. Even if I weren't Christian I would never for a moment even consider doing such a thing. He then said, 'Okay, thanks!', and went off in search of someone else to take the test for him.
This kid had been looking for a job. Knowing that he would have to take a urine test, he nevertheless thought nothing of continuing to take illegal drugs right up to the point of getting a job and then trying to find someone to do something illegal (I haven't checked but I'm reasonably sure that taking a urine test for someone else is illegal) so that he could keep the job. Not only that, but it is just... wrong!
This incident got me to wondering how many young people are like this kid and simply don't care about what is right and what is wrong?
What do you think?
Are they worse today, than before? It may seem that way as we get older, but I think older people have always said so. They certainly did in the 1960s with the hippies, drugs, sex etc
A. Young People
1. For 15 years before 1963 pregnancies in girls ages 15 through 19 years had been no more than 15 per thousand After 1963 pregnancies increased 187% in the next 15 years.
2. For younger girls, ages 10 to 14 years, pregnancies since 1963 are up 553%.
3. Before 1963 sexually transmitted diseases among students were 400 per 100,000. Since 1963, they were up 226% in the next 12 years.
B. The Family
1. Before 1963 divorce rates had been declining for 15 years. After 1963 divorces increased 300% each year for the next 15 years.
2. Since 1963 unmarried people living together is up 353%
3. Since 1963 single parent families are up 140%.
4. Since 1963 single parent families with children are up 160%.
C. Education
1. The educational standard of measure has been the SAT scores. SAT scores had been steady for many years before 1963. From 1963 they rapidly declined for 18 consecutive years, even though the same test has been used since 1941.
2. In 1974-75 the rate of decline of the SAT scores decreased, even though they continued to decline. That was when there was an explosion of private religious schools. There were only 1000 Christian schools in 1965. Between 1974 to 1984 they increased to 32,000.
a. That could have an impact if the private schools had higher SAT scores. In checking with the SAT Board it was found that indeed the SAT scores for private schools were nearly 100 points higher than public schools.
b. In fact the scores were at the point where the public schools had been before their decline started in 1963 when prayer and Bible reading/ instruction was removed from the schools.
c. The scores in the public schools were still declining.
3. Of the nation's top academic scholars, three times as many come from private religious schools, which operate on one-third the funds as do the public schools.
D. The Nation
1. Since 1963 violent crime has increased 544%.
3. Illegal drugs have become an enormous & uncontrollable problem.
2. The nation has been deprived of an estimated 30 million citizens through legal abortions just since 1973.
excerpt from What Happened When The Praying Stopped?
A. Young People
1. For 15 years before 1963 pregnancies in girls ages 15 through 19 years had been no more than 15 per thousand After 1963 pregnancies increased 187% in the next 15 years.
2. For younger girls, ages 10 to 14 years, pregnancies since 1963 are up 553%.
3. Before 1963 sexually transmitted diseases among students were 400 per 100,000. Since 1963, they were up 226% in the next 12 years.
B. The Family
1. Before 1963 divorce rates had been declining for 15 years. After 1963 divorces increased 300% each year for the next 15 years.
2. Since 1963 unmarried people living together is up 353%
3. Since 1963 single parent families are up 140%.
4. Since 1963 single parent families with children are up 160%.
C. Education
1. The educational standard of measure has been the SAT scores. SAT scores had been steady for many years before 1963. From 1963 they rapidly declined for 18 consecutive years, even though the same test has been used since 1941.
2. In 1974-75 the rate of decline of the SAT scores decreased, even though they continued to decline. That was when there was an explosion of private religious schools. There were only 1000 Christian schools in 1965. Between 1974 to 1984 they increased to 32,000.
a. That could have an impact if the private schools had higher SAT scores. In checking with the SAT Board it was found that indeed the SAT scores for private schools were nearly 100 points higher than public schools.
b. In fact the scores were at the point where the public schools had been before their decline started in 1963 when prayer and Bible reading/ instruction was removed from the schools.
c. The scores in the public schools were still declining.
3. Of the nation's top academic scholars, three times as many come from private religious schools, which operate on one-third the funds as do the public schools.
D. The Nation
1. Since 1963 violent crime has increased 544%.
3. Illegal drugs have become an enormous & uncontrollable problem.
2. The nation has been deprived of an estimated 30 million citizens through legal abortions just since 1973.
excerpt from What Happened When The Praying Stopped?
Yes, the 1960s was a turning point for the worse. But I don't think this decade is worse than the one before, or the one befor worse than 1990. The 1960s and 1970s the nation took a nosedive, but it seems to have leveled off.
The 1960s and 1970s the nation took a nosedive, but it seems to have leveled off.
Let's see: the Fair Housing act was passed, the Civil Rights act was passed, we got the heck out of Vietnam and stopped drafting 18-year old's, the Constitution worked and Richard Nixon resigned without tanks in the streets......
IMHO We are a better country because of the 60's and 70's. For those worried about a lack of religion in the 60's and 70's there was a whole lot of praying done by the people who made sure no one had to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of their skin. It was also when the Jesus Movement swept American school campuses. Funny how people seem to forget those things.
Let's see: the Fair Housing act was passed, the Civil Rights act was passed, we got the heck out of Vietnam and stopped drafting 18-year old's, the Constitution worked and Richard Nixon resigned without tanks in the streets......
IMHO We are a better country because of the 60's and 70's. For those worried about a lack of religion in the 60's and 70's there was a whole lot of praying done by the people who made sure no one had to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of their skin. It was also when the Jesus Movement swept American school campuses. Funny how people seem to forget those things.
If you consider 600% rise in violent crime a good thing, then what can I say....?
Let's see: the Fair Housing act was passed, the Civil Rights act was passed, we got the heck out of Vietnam and stopped drafting 18-year old's, the Constitution worked and Richard Nixon resigned without tanks in the streets......
IMHO We are a better country because of the 60's and 70's. For those worried about a lack of religion in the 60's and 70's there was a whole lot of praying done by the people who made sure no one had to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of their skin. It was also when the Jesus Movement swept American school campuses. Funny how people seem to forget those things.
I haven't forgotten. A whole lot of good came out of that era. Conservatives hated it though. They still do.
I haven't forgotten. A whole lot of good came out of that era. Conservatives hated it though. They still do.
You know what some seem to forget about all those things is the fact that for the most part it was the Democratic party fighting the Republican party to implement all those things. The conservatives brought us school busing (Nixon), worked to register people of color to vote in the south while Democrats passed law's and used the Klan to stop it. It was always the Democrats in the 50's, 60's and 70's fighting against rights for all people. And for some reason today no one want's to remember it was they who brought on all of the bad things of that era! Kennedy and Johnson got us deep into Vietnam and continued the draft. Nixon got us out and ended the draft. It was a very good Conservative thing to do I would say.
I think it depends considering where I live (the US) we live in a melting pot with a myriad of different people and you grow up realizing that people don't always carry the same value system as you do. (snip)
Interesting.. "different"... "value system".
We've become complacent to "different value systems" for fear of offending, of being "intolerant" while the real issue which is being creatively ignored, hushed up, or outright pooh poohed by so called change agents who seem intent on demanding that everyone ignore the differences in cultures, yet demand that we recognize and address them specifically in the same breath.
Here is my two cents: Yes, children ARE not caring as much about right vs wrong today than before. We are being lied to: we're bombarded with messages that insist we "embrace culture" which is not so much about "culture" but about cultural mores: standards, values, customs. Those mores have been blurred by those change agents intent on blurring the lines that separate "good" vs "evil". When these change agents are confronted with a demand to explain themselves or give a definition of what they consider "wrong" they either confuse, befuddle, or use ad hominem attacks. When you bring up the Ten Commandments, they respond with "priests are pedophiles! (get thee an FBI crime report of public schools- or even non-Christian religious schools, please- before you criticize so ignorantly) Churches are intolerant!" Disgust is "intolerance". Rules & laws designed to protect us: "oppression".
It's "anything goes!" and if a parent raises his child in the manner our grandparents did, it's "old fashioned" or "abusive". TV is a horrible baby sitter. Brats smarting off to adults & that activity is cheered as "sticking up for yourself/empowerment" with the excuse that the authority is wrong. Notice even in commercials the "smart one" in the ad is the child (I'm lookin' at you, cable TV ad!) and the parents are clueless morons? TV shows never have a child cleaning their room, helping mom with the cooking, or out with dad working on the car (Oh! oops was mom making the dinner? How oppressive!) Gender roles are reversed- and this is planned by the powers that be to blur everything- what is up, is down, what is down, is up. The CHILD is the PARENT and the PARENT is the CHILD. Who is the parent? Who is the father? Which one is the mother? When everything is mixed up, there is no "right" nor "Wrong"- it's just different. We must embrace this bizarro world as the new world order of things- after all the "children are our future (bosses)".
Children aren't "brought up" they are "empowered". Morals are wrong, opinions are wrong, parents are wrong (and clueless morons).
I think I have a cure for all this nonsense. NO TV. No modern music - teach the children (not 'kids', not baby goats- but children) real music, music composed by geniuses like Chopin, JS Bach - not to say that today's music is "stupid" but I don't want to sift through a thousand CDs to find that one that doesn't include sexual & drug/crime references or glorification. Teach children the beauty and complexity and the mathematics! that goes into musical composition.
Teach them how to milk a cow, or what consists of turning that one ton steer into a McDonalds burger patty. If they don't' like their clothes, teach them how to sew and make their own. What child will whine about their clothes if they got to design and craft it themselves?
Children have too much pride. YES- that's exactly what I said- TOO MUCH pride. It's not pride at all, it's rebellion. We're shamed into not speaking up for fear we're being "intolerant" or "backward". We're not backward at all. Don't buy their lies, don't listen to them.
Most of all, teach them manners. Teach them to respect others, even if they don't agree with them, and that includes tolerating their religious beliefs by not branding someone "intolerant" for not agreeing with them.
Teach them right and wrong. Read "Dumbing Down of America" by Charlotte Iserbyt, that free book on her website will answer a lot of questions as to what's happened to this generation's children.
I think probably the same percentage of kids care as when I was a kid, just since there are more, the actual number may be more for each side.
What I initially thought of is probably different since I haven't seen a response like I had, unless I missed it. I worked for a temporary agency (they provided temp help for absent/vacationing employers, etc) and they required random drug testing. Since I had no prior convictions for anything I was given a 'lenient' testing. When it was my turn I was ushered into a room where they inspected my purse and then told to remove my clothes, which as a non-proven drug user I could do in privacy. Then my clothes were examined and I was given a brief pat down while clothed in a paper gown such as you get at the doctor's office. I was taken to the rest room where, again, unlike some, I was afforded the dignity to go into the restroom privately with out a 'guard'. I wasn't even allowed to take in my purse or clothes so why they searched my purse and clothes is beyond me unless they were searching for drugs. Even tho she didn't go in to the bathroom with me, she did stand outside the door which was bad enough for me. She told me that I was NOT to run the tap water until after I handed out the specimen bottle so there would be no chance of watering down the sample. In AZ, when anyone is on probation or parole, regardless of the crime they were incarcerated for, they are required to take random drug tests and they must pee in front of a person to verify it is their urine. Doesn't even matter if the crime was not related to drugs, that's a law, I guess ex-offenders are more prone to becoming or having been a drug user. Myself, I think it's ridiculous. You used to be able to buy laudinum over the counter. If your work doesn't meet standards, you get fired. Period.
So where in the heck does anyone have the chance to get a sample from some stranger and use it as their sample? I do recall a Seinfeld episode where Elaine kept testing positive for opium because she kept ingesting poppy seed dressing so she asked Jerry or George's mother to give her a urine sample. The upshot of that was that it came back free of drugs but her employer refused to let her accompany him on the trip to some foreign country because she was 'menopausal." lol Too funny. Seriously, a drug test unlike the one I described would be close to useless since there would be too many possibilities of fraud.
And, yes, it would be great to witness, and you never know what seeds you plant, but if the kid was using, asking for help to commit fraud, it's unlikely he would have stayed past the first few words out of Mike's mouth. He knew it was wrong to begin with. I do believe there are LOTS of good and honest kids out there still, Christian or otherwise.
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