An immature generation

I created this blog to post in written form some work that I had done for devotional purposes. I kind of figured that if I had put that much work into research, then I would like a record of what I had done. Besides, I wanted to share what I had learned with some people who were unable to be physically present at the time. So "Watering the Vine" was created. But now that it exists, I haven't been sure what to do with it. I think I'm beginning to realize that what I have to teach doesn't mean as much when you separate it from who I am. I had originally thought that this shouldn't be about me like a personal journal, and I still think that, but I think it might be better if I somehow merge the two. So, with that in mind, I'm going to kind of merge the two. Not only will I post some research-type stuff, but also some musings and opinions. Like this...

God has brought people into my life that have helped me to see that we live in a very immature generation. By people, I mean friends, teachers, and authors. I have been reading a book (slowly for a long time now) about the Puritans. The author who wrote the intro said that the greatest thing we could borrow from the Puritans is their maturity. They were an extremely mature group of people. I'm not going to attempt to prove that here (though he demonstrates that in the book), but what makes their maturity even more remarkable is that life expectancy for the average Puritans was in the 30s (if I remember correctly). This was a group of young adults with great maturity. So, what makes us immature? Well, I'm going to get there.

My Senior year at Tulane, we had a visiting professor in the French department. Her name is Fatima Mernissi. She is a Muslim professor, author, and activist from Morocco. The class she taught was as much a laboratory for her as an education for us. While she examined our attitudes toward the Muslim harem, we learned about her world. I'll never forget her perspective on the western world. She saw in us an obsession with what she called "Beauty Babies" or something like that. In other words, westerners' ideals of beauty were often dolled up teenage girls. While television stars in Morocco were often middle-aged and carrying some weight, ours were starving and striving to look young.

As I'm approaching middle age myself (in my early 30s), Dr. Mernissi's ideas and those of others I've known and read have begun germinate in my mind. In our culture, grown women make incredibly expensive efforts to look like young girls. We mold our bodies, faces, and minds into the form of immaturity. Wisdom is not highly valued in our culture. Wildness, recklessness, rebellion, and a spirit of adventure... those things are valued. These are not mature qualities. This is not the fruit of wisdom. Wisdom is not valued.

So we have the elevation of children in society and the devaluation of age and experience... the devaluation of parents. We see this in our art. Television shows, movies, music all portray parents as "out of the loop" and out of touch with reality. Of course children are disrepectful when adults are visualized as buffoons. But really, if adult society is trying to imitate childhood, then how should our children view us? If we ourselves don't respect maturity, should our children respect us, the mature?

What is harmless doesn't stay harmless and the superficial bleeds into the substantial. Or maybe the quest for youth was never superficial to begin with. But the results of the growing immaturity of our culture are fast becoming dangerous. Take for example the UN Treaty on the Rights of the Child. As it is written, parental discipline and guidance could be considered violations of the rights of the child. Computer software that blocks objectional material could be considered a violation of the right of the child to free access to information. Or take into consideration the attempts to criminalize disciplinary spanking. Or the attempts by some to treat religious teaching as child abuse (Richard Dawkins, Nicholas Humphrey, etc.). Parental experience, wisdom, care and guidance are treated as contemptible by some in this day.

But what does this have to do with maturity? We all recognize that the western way of life is unhealthy. The goal of many of our adults is to be childlike. The western way is often to live out childhood fantasies with adult freedom and resources. The response of some minds to this phenomenon is to take control of the children away from the parents. If parents abdicate their responsibilities, then those who care will step in... and step on toes if necessary.

So what do we do? I don't know that there is an easy answer to the question, "How do we begin to value maturity and wisdom?" I think that first we have to take a good, hard look at ourselves. In order to value maturity, we first need to know what it looks like. Then we need to decide whether or not we look like it. And if we don't... and if we're in a western culture, we may not... then we need to make the conscious decision to change what we value and to act according to what we've decided is a mature value system.

Not easy, is it? Values and behavior don't just change in a day. Cultural values and behavior may not change for generations. But if we don't start, then who will? And what kind of world will our children face? Our grandchildren?

The Bible says that, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." In my life, I've been a fool and I've been wise. But the foolishness came from me and the wisdom from God. My prayer is that we become a wise nation once more, as in the days of our founding fathers. In the meantime, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."