We Want Ameica Back.

Great post jch-singer!

With due respect go2Church maybe you should consult people from older generations, as you may find yourself shaking your head at those comments in another 30 years.
The fact is you still have many of those same problems and are sins of men! Only as God is been slowly removed from our Society we have gone well beyond racists/sexist attitudes, into the murdering of a million plus children each year through abortion. Something which was not accepted and was criminal, legally and morally, in the "good ole days".
In addition, you did not have such issues nor acceptance of "alternative lifestyles" with homosexuality and promotion of it to children even. Images of bestiality and rampant pornography are now common place and non-shocking! That was not the case in the "good ole days" with our grandparents so good for their example and lifestyle! Child pornography and the raping of children would have sent shutters through the masses of people, in the good ole days. In addition, marriage and family played the greatest role or a greater role than society places upon it today.

There are many other examples but the first is more than enough. After all there was a time in America in which people knew and trusted their neighbor with no need in locking their doors. Our elders were also proud to call themselves American but now I guess that is not chic. I guess it is not chic to call upon God's name in the public either? One could also compare the family oriented tv programming and mentality of yesteryear to today's trash tv and actors.

To clarify a couple of things however historically speaking. The Founders laid the foundation by which all races and sexes could be equal under the Constitution and as stated in the Declaration of Independence. They also re-enacted the Northwest Ordinance which they thought would be the beginning of the end of slavery. It also states the following. "ART. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians.....ART. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory....
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/5.htm

Referring to women as being under "subjugation" in America is pretty outrageous.
Subjugated "conquest, conquest, subjection.....oppression....forced submission...." source wordreference.com
"to bring under control.....to make submissive" Webster



Men and Women had accepted roles and responsibilities in society. God's word also speaks about the roles and responsibilities of men and women. This has undergone a great change today however as a homeworker or stay at home mom is often looked down upon. I have no problem with women working but there is no harder and greater job than a stay at home mom has! There is no greater experience than a growing child could enjoy. God Bless them!

By the way, there was nothing in the Constitution which said women could not vote. That was an accepted norm. The Constitution was amended to specifically include and protect those rights however. I imagine women in the Middle East could tell you exactly what it is like being under "subjugation" and I don't think voting would be their greatest concern. We have always had it so good but it is a shame we forget this.

So for the record you are OK with God and His word being left our of school, but are you OK with school teaching many Un-Godly things such as evolution or teaching your child about sexuality and homosexual or pagan things etc? Because the later is not going to stop. Also, nobody was "forced" to pray as it was "voluntary prayer" or beleive the Ten Commandments. That however was the atheists argument. Either way one could take the initiative to see what is being presented to their children, this in regards to my examples.

It is a legitimate question in asking am "I" living a good Christian life and example? However, your post defeats your own argument! As that would serve to be all the more reason to have them posted in the public.

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I don't understand this conditional Christianity mentality? Where does God say it is OK to be and act as a good Christian most of the time, but not all the time? This is the same mentality which says we should leave our faith out of business and business practices. Where does God say His word is only to be considered or viewed in certain circumstances and not under other circumstances? No, we cannot and shouldn't force people to believe in God but where did we come to the conclusion it is a bad thing to share God or even to view His word at times? Especially when such was historical in America. God says his word is not "burdensome" 1 John 5:3 "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome..."



God is clear with his blessings and indeed condemnation, in regards to Nations and people.

America was more Godly in years past and it would only be a blessing if we began a trend to return to such as that!

take care, in Christ.
:wavey:

 

windcatcher & Ralph, great posts! As for some of the others who don't want the good old days, well you guys have had it your way for the past 30 years, some of us want the old America back, like the OP says. They were the good ole days. Kids actually had innocence and a childhood.

 

Do you mean like the days of the great depression when people were out of work and stood in long bread lines while others lived in sod houses and in areas where the cows couldn't run fast enough to get enough to eat? Do you mean like the days of the dust bowl and people moved west? Do you mean like the days of the Holocaust? Do you mean like the days of when a man earned one dollar a day. Do you mean like the days when a lot of people worked in the fields? Do you mean like the days before air conditioning?

You certainly can walk to church or ride your horse. You can feed your horse twice a day and scoop up the poop. You can put up hay so the horse has enough to eat during the winter. You could also stay at home and never go on a vacation. You could also plant a garden and have some milk cows to milk twice a day. You could also get out your horse and walk behind the plow and plow your field all day long. You could also put up all of your hay in shocks by hand and then bring them into the barn by hand to feed your horses and cows during the winter. You could also have the privilege of using square nails and cutting your wood by hand. You could also cutting down the trees for that wood with a hand saw. You could also buy an add subtract multiply and divide calculator for at least 100 dollars and your wages are 1.65 per hour. You could also live in Los Angeles when the air was so bad that the trees were dying while your eyes burned because of the smog. Why have clean air when your nostrils can be black with soot in the air? Even better yet might as well breathe dusts and feel the sprays on you from agriculture because the chemical companies told the public that the chemicals would not hurt anyone. Why bother having anti-smoking laws when you could go into any building and find a cloud and then at church find the deacons by the cloud overhead. It was so nice to have yellow colored walls due to the constant smoke in a building and then to think that babies also breathed that smoke while the adults were puffing away on Marlboro or Lucky Strike. Why bother condemning those buildings which were condemned due to the toxic effects of the sprayed in expanding foam insulation? Why operate on someone when they could die much earlier. After all who wants an indoor toilet and indoor water supply equipped with hot water? Who would ever want air conditioning when you could pass out in the church service and someone can take you outside to get cooled off?

O how we long to return to the good ol' days.

 

Don't be so sure. That isn't what my Bible speaks about.

My dad tells about his days in high school when he learned how to smoke and drink. I did none of those.

 

It wasn't until 1987 that our high school done away with the smoking zone for the students...

It had been there since the 40s...
I can't imagine allowing teens to smoke on school grounds...but in "the good ole days" they did.

 

What was rather interesting is that I student taught at a very large high school and they tried having an area for students to smoke. What they found surprised them. Tey found that the numbers went way down when the administration allowed it in a designated area on campus. When I talked with some of the students they told me that they just decided to quit at that time instead of smoking any longer. Before that the adminstration patrolled the area around the school. I guess the fear factor was gone and it was no longer fun.

 

Ah, gb, you'd better watch it or I'll have to get out my boppy thing and knock some sense into you.:laugh: j/k

Seriously though, my parents are still living (soon will celebrate their 61st anniversary) and they both remember something about the depression. My Dad lost a brother in WWII and my Dad saw battle in the Mediterrianean Arena. When he retired (from the military) he settled us on a farm, 80 acers of old home stead, in a house with four rooms, a handpumped well, a spiderery infested out house....or choice of hiding in the brush..... and most of the land was virgin yet to be cleared for cultivation. This was the 60's and I in my teens went from urban kid, girl scouts, and preteen dance club to country life, picking berries, and pecans, and produce and shelling and canning and freezing, slopping pigs and straining fresh milk for the table. Was it hard? Not at all. We went to church on Sundays, school on weekdays, and made good grades and still had time to bring in the fire wood for winter, help Dad build partitions to the rooms to make more bedrooms and closets, put in plumbing and septic tank, clear land...... and grow the prettiest watermelons you ever did 'saw'. :laugh:

Yeah, I missed out on a lot: I missed living in a community that was so dense it was easy to get involve in something that later could bring shame. I missed out on going to school where boys were expected to 'try' girls regardless of the girls reputation. I missed hearing a lot of cuss words and filthy jokes, and the confusion of not knowing how to behave or when something was 'socially unacceptible'. I missed out on just tossing dishes on the table, and eating whatever whenever and only what I liked. I missed out on growing up without learning to say 'please' and 'thankyou' and hurrying to eat instead of waiting for Dad to say the blessing and us all be seated together. I missed out on driving the family car to college as I had to ride the county school bus 25 miles at 6:00 in the morning, and wouldn't get home until 5:00 in the evening. I missed not having my allowance some weeks to buy my lunch at college, and wiping tables in h/s so I could get one free hot meal a week instead of always bagging my lunch. I missed not being able to selfishly choose what shows I wanted to watch when our tv, radio, and record player were one large console, and my Mother loved to play piano tunes on the instrument which occupied the same room: And I missed having my father presence to discipline and lead, but not to attend special events or praise.......because he found shift work and also worked the farm. I missed out on being taught how to speak up and ask for things, without first considering the need. I miss my first job in the 70's when with an associate of science degree I worked in Raleigh in a medical office making $240/ month to put a husband through school at Southeastern Baptist Seminary at Wake Forrest, NC. I miss out on having experience with money early in life to both manage it and value its use...until I was on my own and had to learn the hard way. It wasn't all roses, but it was the thorns that kept me growing.

We are so afraid we might shame somebody if we say No, or don't agreed to go along with the pc tolerance thing, rather than show our displeasure in something we know is harmful for ourselves or our children. Yes, I'm hard core southern and older and wiser and remember a time when less seemed like 'more' and life seemed simple enough for the living and relationship with others and the social graces and had its innocence. I value freedoms for myself and others, but we are rapidly moving from the free life which was dependant on individual conscience, responsibility, and self control, into a life of bondage ...dependant on external controls to restrain the worse outcome of self-centered and amoral decisions based mostly on personal gain with the outcome justifying the means.

 

Isn't it amazing how we choose to remember the good things until we are faced with what things were really like. Nobody in my family were Christians until I became one. I would not trade anything I had before compared to what I truly have now. Those who have become Christians can truly say things are much better today than then. Christmas is radically different. The majority of my relatives are Christians today. The smoking, drinking and profanity is all gone. The non-Christians use good language around us. I married a Christian lady and what a difference that made in my life.

Christ makes a huge difference when we let him.

 

Isn't that the truth. If you were like me I needed a lot of them. Along the way were people who cared enough to tell me the truth and help me grow. Some of them are no longer living. Some I have known since my college days.

 

It is true, we can't go back, and it does little good to look back and wonder. The best we can do is with the choices we have today.

Our values are passed on to each succeeding generation more by our behaviors and habits as being good role models worthy of youthful eyes, than by all the preaching or teaching we may do without example. And bit by bit, as consumers, every item which takes our money, or involves our time is a vote towards its value in our life and in our world... whether it be just lawful or edifying, or is dealing with material things or relationships.

Why take thought of tomorrow. Sufficient to this day is the evil thereof. If we live like children of God in the confidence of knowing Who holds tomorrow, then maybe others will be drawn to our hope in Christ Jesus. What ever we do today is an act of faith on behalf of a hope (for tomorrow).


(Looks like it'll be laundry tomorrow......lol!)

 

The Good Ole Days may not have been perfect, but I am inclined to believe they had their advantages.

Sinners have always been sinners.

One post listed indoor toilets and air-conditioning as good things about the present, I would abandon those things in an instant if it met halting some of the depravity we see today.

In the good ole days were 1.6 million babies a year being slaughtered?

In the good ole days could Hollywood put out a movie depicting a 12 year old girl being raped?

In the good ole days could Hollywood put out a movie like "Zoo" that depicts bestiality?

And for those of you who talk about slavery etc. Face it, there are many minorities who claim it is just as bad for them today as it has ever been.

No, the good ole days were not perfect, but surely they were better than today?

 

The funny thing is, when we reach 80 yrs old, we will look back and call these, "the good ole days"

And if this conversation would have happened in 1940 it would have been basically the same conversation.

It seems that as we move from one generation to the next things are getting worse... Hmmm...Seems Like I remember reading that it would somewhere.

I still say forget about the good ole days, and try to make the future Godly... And we can only do that by living in the present....

Think about this...

Today is tomorrow's yesterday....
And Yesterday's tomorrow is today...

We only have the present, let's each use every second for Christ.

 

You missed the point of the O.P. gb93433. As it is speaking about the Godly morals of America and family orientation of society in years past, versus today. I don't think there is any comparison in this regards and no elder I know would debate that. The example of abortion, homosexuality, pornography, some music and TV programming alone says enough.

If you want to use convenience and materialism as the standard then so be it.

However, even with that standard our elders were able to provide for their families, typically much larger, better than most around the world had it. This irrespective of the American economy. Many of my family lived or grew up on farms, still do, and would have it no other way. My grandparents and parents had plenty to speak on these matters but hard work and challenges were nothing they fretted over. I grew up helping my Dad in construction/carpenty with a good work ethic being instilled and would change none of that or those memories. I on the other hand have to force my nephews to go outdoors in removing them from the tv or computer, man-o-man!




take care.:wavey:

 

If you'd turn off that darned ol lectric, you'd nip that problem in the bud, Bud. When Jesus said he saw Satan fall as lightnin, he was tellin us right there that bringin electric into the house was gonna make a highway for Satan to come ridin in on. Now am I right?

And don't EVEN get me started on what shootin up them space rockets has done to the weather!

 

Tim, now here you have a point. I have a lot of older books and some reprints from older books, and most if not all have something to say about the world has never been this bad and so on. I've just finished a book by Adolph Saphir which was put out in the 1870's and he is saying it. You can read most Christian authors from the past and it will come up a lot. I believe they keep pointing it out as so many pastors do, to see if we are going to do anything about it. If we believed that Jesus could come to get us at any moment, we might get to getting the Gospel out to the lost.

 

This is just a sign that we are moving from the industrial revolution to the electronic age...
When they get older they will need that computer!

Read history... when man started the industrial revolution, people complained that machines were going to be the end of civilization.

It is just a change in method of getting things done.

I thank God my sons would rather play on computers than with other things.. it is going to give them an advantage over others when they get in the work force.

Today you have to know how to multi-task in order to be effective in the work place.

Just my take on it.:wavey:

I thank God I live in the day and age I live in...
A candle in a dark room is more noticable than a candle in a well lit room.

We are called to be candles for Jesus in this dark world.. instead of complaining about the world... let your life shine, and let Jesus use you.. It is no accident that you were born when you were born, where you were born...

Praise God for 2007.

 

I read some of Plato's works years ago, and he said the same thing. I don't recall if Aristotle said so or not.

 

So have previous generations only percieved things as getting worse, is it a symptom of old age?

Or are things progressively worsening? Perhaps there have been "blips" in history, which we could call revivals maybe, when things got better, but the general course of the world is to decline?

As a dispensationalist, I would say there is a theological basis for believing times are waxing worse and worse.

Then, are the "good ole days" history, impossible to recover? Can all we hope for is a blip in history?

 

I wasn't familiar with this "Zoo" movie but got a quick education thanks to google...ignorance is bliss.

 

Forgive me, I should have put up a disclaimer and maybe the mods will want to remove its mention.