Like a Box of Chocolates……………!

[cedarhart]

Children are like this. One never knows what one is going to get! Nature or Nurture. What determines their mental health outcome? What’s different about this last generation that seems to make so many so disrespectful and selfish, fulfilling II Timothy 3? And what does Scripture state about it?

 

[tim_from_pa]

I think what created this generation (generation y and cyber generation) of kids started with mine (Baby Boomers) and the one after me (generation x).We were the hippies. I was at the tail end of the boomers and jokingly refer to myself as "the hippy's kid brother". Our generation questioned authority and anything moral (like the bible) and wanted our own spirituality and this is the generation that some crazy religious practices and mixing started. Everything was more "gray" instead of moral absolutes, especially sexuality and drug experimentation.The generation after us, generation x or the 30-somethings now basically seem to be an aimless, albeit more materialistic generation. They were too busy running their kids to all kinds of sports and busy activity sometimes even during church time and then they wonder why there's problems today (the family's been replaced by a more socially busy standard). They were aimless from lack of standards and the "Gray areas" from my generation and passed on to their kids that anything goes. Heaven forbid if a cop says their kid was caught stealing or something like that. The x-ers would unquestionably with a knee-jerk reaction side with their kids no matter how wrong their kids are.Then, when our kids today act the way they do, the x-ers and more so the boomers now turn back to absolutes again to try to regain control. However, the boomers originally rejected anything black and white and when confronted with the necessity of absolutes, they became clueless. Therefore, in their pseudo-puritanical style, they created their own version of authority MUCH WORSE than the authority they rebelled against. This is where we now get our catch phrases such as "politically correct", "zero-tolerance" and all the other lame-brained philosophy.And why the Boomers? They were post WWII babies and our parents wanted to give everything to us materially after such a terrible war and rationing. Unfortunately, they kept their spirituality in their materialism and there was a lack sensed in our generation. When we rejected material things for a spiritual search, we rejected EVERYTHING including our parent's spirituality and the bible.And that, my friend is how it all started---- just as the bible predicted!!

 

[tim_from_pa]

I do want to add one more thought. While I mentioned the negative, I do see in my two sons and their friends a very strong and good generation emerging. I am proud of them. They seem to have an insight to see into issues we had and I think some of them will take the bull by the horns and in a more rational manner straighten some things out in this generation. But notice I said some---- these are the good kids that can see all this stuff. But they do not seem to have half the hang-ups that their parent's generation had.

 

[elmo]

cedahart, I can't quite find any relation between life and chocolateGod knew from the very beginning of time that there would be a downfallto humankind so that mean we do know what going to happen in life, just not quite everything about how and most definitely not when.When the rapture come those who are still unbelievers will be left behind and those who are dead shall rise first then we who are alive in christ will join Christ in the greatest fellowship with our creator as will be with Jesus Christ in all of his magnificence and gloryso you see chocolates has nothing to do with lifeI do understand that you mean that you can't predict children...but God's word says, "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it"

 

[Dagda]

I think a good word for my own generation (20 years old, for reference) is disillusioned. It's a term with negative connotations, but of course, not everything is an illusion. There's more going on in their behavior than just apathy- I'd describe it as a carefully choosing when and how to care, so as to avoid becoming emotionally desensitized by the constant stream of information about the world. Mass media is full of appeals to our heartstrings; many would rather make their own search for meaning in life beyond the experiences of contestants in a reality show.One of the best examples I can offer of an experience that speaks to the current generation is the Daily Show. It has no high pretensions regarding its own importance, and it's cleverly entertaining- but it's satire, not just comedy. It has earnest, meaningful points to make regarding the discrepancy between reality and the portrait painted by politicians and news media. There's a reason numerous youth watch it in place of actual news, regardless of the merits of that action.On the whole, I don't see this as society collapsing; just aging, evolving, constantly moving forward through uncharted territory in ways that cause a nation's culture to change with it.