JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Where is the morality of the young people going?

The bible says we are born into sin, it is our nature to be selfish and greedy, even evil, the good has to be taught and learned. Someone once said to the parent of a naughty six year old child, "when did you teach your child to be so bad", the mother said, "I never taught him to be bad, he learned it all on his own", he didn't have to learn it, it is his nature to be bad, to be good has to be learned and taught by word and good example. Many of today's and yesterdays parents are failing their children because their parents failed them, mainly because they followed the teaching of Dr. Spock(or Spaak, not sure of the spelling of his name) even he admitted before he died that his teaching was wrong on the discipline issue. So bent the twig, so grows the tree. The bible says to rear up a child in the way it should go, and though it may stray for a while, it will return to its roots(teaching).

With the drop in church attendance and driving God out of school and the lack of teaching of God in the home, it's no wonder so many kids have no morals. With the filth they have to hear and see every day in music and the media, it's no wonder they have no respect. Someone once said "if satan can keep God out of the lives of three generation in a row, he will win the victory". But try as he might, he will not defeat God. Praise the Lord.

I had to print the lyrics to Toby Keith's song "Love Me If You Can". It seemed relevant to what we are discussing here. I love these lyrics, the song, and of course Toby!

[Verse 1]

Sometimes think the war is necessary
Every night I pray for peace on earth
And I hand down my dollars to the homeless
But believe that every able soul should work

[Pre Chorus]

My father gave me my shotgun
That I'll hand down to my son
Try to teach him everything it means

[Chorus]

I'm a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I'm goin'
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can

[Verse 2]

I stand by my right to speak freely
But I worry 'bout what kids learn from TV
And before all of debatin' turns to angry words and hate
Sometimes we should just agree to disagree

[Pre Chorus]

And I believe that Jesus
Looks down here and sees us
And if you ask him, he would say

[Chorus Out]
_________________________

Everett I disagree. We are not born bad, selfish or greedy it is all learned behavior. Children copy what they see and learn by example whether it is from peers, adults or parents. These behavior problems can be rectified if children at an early age are shown love, tolerance, taught right from wrong, self respect and respect of others.
Religion in any shape or form has caused most of the world's problems. Bigotry, racism, greed, ignorance, and indoctrination have been the accepted norm in most if not all religions. Some of the most cruel acts in history and inhumane behaviour have been committed in the name of religion with governments and religious leaders baying for more.
If there is a god then he would certainly not associate himself with all that nonesense.
Atheists tend to be more tolerant and have deeper moral convictions than so called religious folk.

Religion does not cause problems, it is people misusing it to their own ends that do. Your notion of accepted norms is a distorted generalization.

To what extent are these people being forced, bribed or otherwise coerced or convinced to behave like this?

I grew up in the environment that one lived in fear of punishment if one acted like that, so what's up with kids now?
Are they owners of their parents and teachers now, so that they can treat others any way they want to?
Is the hip hop gangsta culture so worshipped now that people are too scared to simply say "BACK UP!!!!"?

The most frightening questions that I have is this....

Are these same kids going to be elected to run our country someday?

Jim I disagree with you here. I have three children and before they could talk even walk they showed selfishness, violence etc. These things are in our bones leave and child to grow without proper guidance and you'll see. The problem is is that we adults re enforce these bad attitudes unknowingly because we ourselves haven't dealt with them properly and are still selfish, greedy ... I agree with you point about God and he does exist. he wouldn't associate with the image of him we portray. He isn't the big guy up there He's a real person he isn't waiting to punish us as soon as we slip up on the contrary he has our best interest at heart. Problem is this darkness is the absence of light, God is light so we now live in darkness. Hate steps in when Love is absent and God is Love so we live in societies full of hate. All of the problems we face today yesterday last year from the dawn of time is that We Exclude God.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs. However it is more logical to believe that MAN created GOD and not the other way around. Logically if there was a god, then HE, as a perfect being could not create something as imperfect as US. And if he had, then why has he in his infinite wisdon not sorted us out. If he took six days to create the world and everything in it then sorting it out amounts to about half an hours work. Is he that busy or lazy that in the last few millions years he cannot spare us half an hour. And as for Jesus being the son of god, fancy sending a boy to do a man's work. He should have known he was onto a loser. Sorry I cannot see how anybody in this day and age could be so duped into believing in any god. If god is light and we are in darkness then why doesn't he just switch the light on.
Back to the kids thing. Studys have been done to prove that most behavioural traits are learned at a very early age. Whilst certain traits and characteristics are genetic most behaviour is learned and copied. That goes for religion as well. Funny how we only believe in God after we are told that he exhists. Kids only find out the truth about Santa Claus when they are old enough to understand that he does not exist. Some folk have a similar thing with god. They never grow up and smell the coffee.
If we are not told that something is wrong then we will not learn it. We are born with a competetive instinct like all animals but this can be shaped by learning. The only thing that seperates us from the other animals is evolution. Some religions did not even believe in that untile fairly recently.

I agree they are no more or less immoral... by the way what does immoral really mean?

Plastering the "I don't give a [naughty word removed] what you think", "only I am important" and the Shallow fancies of teens attitudes with the label "Immoral" is well.... immoral....

The responsibility for the attitudes of kids is firstly with the parents, secondly with the teachers... (these are everyone from kindy to trainers, managers, bosses and media) and with the Government... Why the government.. they are the law makers.... they allow what is taught in school, they allow what is put in the media, they allow bosses and banks to rip the life out of family in an ever greater spriral to attain more wealth.

Children need supervision and guidence... if a parent is not there to do that properly between birth and 8 years old... what hope does the teen have?

JMO

Maybe Everett, you shouldn't get so excited about some program you watched on TV and if your're really concerned get off the couch and go out and see how your views are met in the community. Doubt your going to find much support for corporal punishment. As to religion in the schools I grew up in rural Illinois in the 1950's and I don't remember any reading of the Bible or prayer in school. I've raised two well adjusted and behaved daughters who are now young women. The children of a more strict upbringing are the ones who seem to act out more.

Everett, have they driven God out of the schools up there in Canada? They can't do that here because we have religious freedom.

Post deleted by airun

By the way you don't have t believe in god to be "moral"

Airun.. very true!

The strange thing is that in my experience generally it is the deeply religious folk that seem to have the least amount of tolerance and the most amount of hypocracy and bigotry.

Morality is an offshoot of responsibility. If God gave us no choice, there'd be no responsibility and no morality. The most basic responsibility we have is to ourselves. If we were hermits, that which is called "selfish" and that which is called "greedy" would be good traits. But we're not hermits, we live and depend on others. Morality is the dance between responsibility to self and to others.

The gravest responsibility is responsibility FOR others. The most obvious of this is that of the parent. Then there are those whom society entrusts with responsibility for its members. Civic leaders, soldiers, police, emergency workers, doctors, teachers and on down to cab drivers...folks who are entrusted to care and protect.

Perhaps the most interesting responsibility is that of the moralist. The person who instructs others as to their own moral responsibilities and duties. Some of these interperet social morays, rather difficult to do, similar to what a songwriting critiquer does when they analyze poplular styles then measure a songwriter's work against the analysis. Though these critiquers may be accurate in their analyses and assessments, there is a common "ad hominem" argument against their conclusions when the critiquer's own work is found to contain examples that do not measure up to said conclusions. This also happens with the cultural moralist. The cleric, preacher, pundit, essayist, or internet philosopher's own lives may not measure up to their message, which makes them, by definition, hypocrites. It does not, however, logically disprove their message. AA figured this out, it takes a drunk to tell a drunk why they shouldn't drink.

So I try to not blame philosophy for philosophers' failings.

Big Jim, it would seem that you don't believe in God, that is your right, your freedom to do so is why God doesn't force Himself down your throat. He could have made us believers by force or even design, but he wanted us free to make our own choice, He wants us to love Him by choice, not force.

There are two forces in this world vying for mans soul. The force of evil(Satan) and good(God). Religion can be controlled by Satan or God. Satan will use religion to make God look evil, while God will use Christianity to do good and try to save mans soul, the choice is up to man, God will not force you to choose Him, Satan will use every means available to get you to choose him, not because he loves you, but because he hates God, in who's image you are made. Man's soul will live on forever, you are given a choice where it will live. Atheist believe that this world is all there is, they hope they are right because they don't want to accept the judgement for their sinful lives. They don't have to, Jesus already paid for their sins, but they must believe and accept that fact, if they don't, then they are still responsible for their sins.

If you don't believe in God, then for sure you don't believe in the bible, so it is useless for me to quote the bible to you to show where you are wrong. All I can do is pray for you. I love you as a fellow human being and I would hate for you to be lost. Read the bible with an open heart and open mind and ask God to reveal the truth to you.

Truman, it is my understanding that in public schools in the USA, that God was driven out before He was in Canada. In Canada we are bending over backwards to be politically correct so we won't offend minority groups, while we give minority groups rights that the majority don't have. We are no longer considered a Christian country. We have religious freedom here too, but not everywhere, many businesses won't even allow their employees to say Merry Christmas, afraid of offending those that don't believe in Christ.

Good for you Pete, I'm glad that your children turned out well, some people are blessed with well behaved children and never need corporal punishment. I have three children, they all turned out well, but two of them needed corporal punishment at times. They even say, now that they are grown, that they deserved what they got and it never scarred them, mentally or physically. When I was growing up, I got a few lickings, and I deserved them and I knew where the line was drawn. I knew the punishment was for my own good and that my parents loved me enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Children learn about 80 percent of their knowledge from their parents. And they start learning from a very early age. Some children will have the best parents and still turn out bad. And some children will have the worst parents and turn out good.

I had to spank my daughter at least once and my two grandsons at least once. They love me to death because they know I care.

Having God in or out of the schools doesn't have much to do with it. A lot of scoundrels attend church regularly.

Those that want religion in the schools in the U.S. today don't have an issue with the ACLU, they have an issue with the Framers of the Consitution.

Parents may say one thing but do another. What they actually do has a lot more influence than what they say and children see that and may follow those lessons as bad as they may be.

I don't think you have to believe in God to be a well behaved person or to have integrity or good work ethics.
I guess you can put stealing in there as well. I know it is one of the commandments but there are cultures that have never read the Ten Commandments and stealing is still a no-no for them. They feel so strong about it they will cut your hand off if you get caught.

I wonder which message got across the best to their kids.

Message one;
Now son, there is a great being that lives up in the sky and he says if you don't steal he will give you milk and honey when you die. But if you do steal it's OK as long as you believe in him because he forgives you and will give you the milk and honey anyway.
Message two;
Now son, I need to warn you. If you steal anything and you get caught we are gonna cut your hand off.

Now I have to ask. Which one will be most effective.

No, Everett, God is still quite prevalent in schools here. Americans can pray any time they want, anywhere they want. What they DID do, some time ago was to stop school administrators and teacher from leading students in prayer. The Supreme Court rightly concluded that religion is a private matter between a person and his god, and that it would be best for everyone if the schools kept out of it. It was a good decision and perfectly in keeping with America's devotion to religious freedom.

You, being from Canada can be excused for not knowing this. Sadly, there are many Americans who are similarly misinformed about this.

I know kids who pray in school every day.

Truman
Are you sure about that?
What do you mean by "anywhere and anytime they want"?
I do not believe a group of Christians can get together and have a prayer meeting during school hours.
Now if you mean an individual can bow his head before his meal and say a prayer of thanks, I believe that is OK. Not sure if he can say it out loud though. And I would be willing to bet if a table full of Christians stood up in the cafeteria and said a prayer they would be stopped.

I think Prayers were said before certain events in school back in the fifties but not now.

I think this is the law as is.

The Supreme Court in effect added an exception clause to the First Amendment. The exception clause in effect said you are free to worship, pray, or read the Bible except if you are on school property.

And as far as I can tell the only religion allowed on school property is Atheism. The Atheist can practice openly without consequence. So the Supreme court has allowed an Oxymoron or something to that effect. It supports the practice of Atheism on school property but not other forms of religion.
And the Supreme Court has ruled that Atheism is a recognized religion. So they sided with the Atheist's.

Mike,

You are one smart cookie. I never cease to be impressed by your steady wisdom... seriously folks. Mike has got to be the most balanced and even minded guy I know.. Wow...

You need to write a book Mike. Seriously.

Brian

I agree with Airun. Morality and Religion are neither dependent on one another or exclusive to one another. Sometimes I think the opposite might be true when it comes to how religions view those who don't believe what they do.

Brian

Bill R:

What the court has held as far as having a "prayer meeting" is that religious groups have to be given the same access as any other group to school property. So if the chess club has a meeting during school hours, a prayer group would have the same right. But, of course, groups like that are extra-curricular, so they aren't going to be meeting during school hours.

The same goes for school property after school hours, though.

Students or anyone else on school property has the right to read a Bible or say a prayer before eating. And they have the right to say it aloud. What they don't have the right to do is disrupt the education of any other students.
That's the principle behind court rulings on religion in school. Not worship.

So if a group of students stood up in the cafeteria and started saying a prayer before they ate, the teachers or staff in the cafeteria would have to decide on the spot whether they were disrupting other students.
Since anyone could sit and parse a question like that until the cows come home, they are almost always going to stop the potentially disruptive activity because by law they can't let one student disrupt another's education.

It puts a big burden on teachers and administrators. A student is allowed, for example, to talk about their religious beliefs with another student until it becomes some sort of religious harassment. Where do you draw the line?
So some make mistakes that get blown into misconceptions about what is and isn't allowed, and the questions keep circulating through the courts.

The Supreme Court has held that a religion doesn't require belief in a Supreme Being. So secular humanism is considered a religion. But, for example, Buddhism and many Native American beliefs also don't hold with the idea of a Supreme Being in the Judeo-Christian sense.

I don't know what you mean by the practice of atheism in the schools, but students aren't allowed to harass anyone over religious beliefs even if they're atheists. No school administrator would be allowed to stand up at a graduation and lead everyone in reciting a rejection of religion.

If on the other hand you think of practicing atheism as the absence of practicing a faith -- not praying is practicing atheism -- well that's a philosophical discussion. But not praying is not going to disrupt any other student's education.

Everett The Bible was written by man, about man, for man. It is a collection of inaccurate biased views of history by a variety of ingnorant people thousands of years ago, compared to the knowledge we have today their understanding is like a child. Given the level of knowledge and communication skills of the times and the obvious bias of the story tellers, these novels cannot be taken seriously. ie most stories like chinese whispers were handed down, then eventually written and translated from one language to another. These stories and history recollections are full of mistakes hypocracy contradictions and erroneous information. It baffles me how any grown man can quote chapters and verse from this hotch potch of fables as if it is the font of all knowledge, morality and facts. Compared to other religions Christianity is a baby just born. So are you saying that all those ancient religions are all wrong and you are right. Or do they have a different god because they were born in a different part of the world and know no difference. For example the Islam religion condems christianity as blasphemy and there are more of them than christians. What makes you correct and all of them wrong?
As far as I am concerned you are all wrong.

I read Mike's wisdom and I was scrolling down to tell him that I think he is brilliant, when I saw your post Brian. We are completely on the same page, I agree with Airun too.

MIKE DUNBAR you are awesome ! ! ! ! !

While I am agnostic (belief of something bigger but not a theocratic God) I think a lot of what goes along with tradition has been grossly ovelooked.
Sure there was racism, genecide to the non-believers.
I could never compare the plight of the Jews in Exodus to our current version of Capitol Punishment and justice being bought and sold, which is a contradiction in terms.
I have been in hard on crime groups because a loved one was a victim, and I can't believe how many bragged about falling on a false conviction with a poor person. Some of them were in capitol murder cases too in different states. Talking about the crime like an afterthought.
I can't believe that is what was meant with the Jews in Exodus.
The book also talked of the golden calf.
And laws were not meant to hold over citizens to all points and bounds.
I don't want to meander too much into the topic.
But a lot of religion seems to have a lot more to do with the sword and flame than it does with peace.
Christianity is supposed to be above that.
Mankind has held up for centuries with those virtues and even the big Eastern (U.S.) Universities to where the professors with their lawyers prohibit Christian prayer were created by Christians.
I dare to say that not all religions are equal.
If you believe so than you welcome living back in the dark ages.
And what I have seen is peoples faiths being judged by idiots.
Muslim and other faiths included.
It is when these religions start taking the writings literally and kill with them.
Maybe saying religions are not equal is the wrong way to put it.
Cults are not equal to religion.
Many believers in religion or not do not like the way things are going.
But it is not religion in itself that is the problem.
Russia learned the hard way about getting rid of religion.

People just have to learn to accept others.
But not to the point to where that could harm the public.
And that is where the political left and right can't seem to get it straight.

Thankfully, we have the checks and balances of living in democracies with a representive Republic.
Even though that system is'nt perfect, it is better than a theocratic body or communism.
It just is a guessing game on who to trust because there is so much money and greed involved with health and safety, that the experiment with Capitalism has taken a turn for the worst.
But that does'nt make Capitalism wrong.
It is ultimately up to society, and I hope that people don't get mislead of throwing their freedoms away in the confusion.

Matt any cult is a form of belief and therefore by definition a religion.
Re Capitalism. It by it's very own definition is exploitation and manipulation and goes against the teachings of most religions.
Re Communism. In theory it is more akin to the teachings of Jesus than capitalism. Each shall be given what he needs and all that.
So any Christian who believes in capitalism by definition is a hypocrite.
It always puzzled me to see the USA so vehement against communism when their religion is actally based on communist fundamentals.
By the way just for the record I am not a communist just an atheist trying to point out the negative aspects of religion and politics. Whatever disguise it takes both religion and politics are just ways to control, manipulate, dupe and exploit the masses. We are to stupid or powerless to do much about it.

Having a group hanging onto all the marbles to me is my definition of tyranny.
And every goverment has that.
If it is a complete Democracy it is a case of God save the queen.
The same when a group controls the goverment function.
Either way is a hypocracy.
Imperialism and communism are both as equally dangerous.
If either the left or right would have total control, it would be like Hitlerism.
I guess the best mankind can do is have one to put the screws into another, because goverment and religion in itself is a contradiction.
Because none of us can view right and wrong in exactly the same way.
Most people can agree than hanas acts like murder or rape is wrong.
But in a system to where there are such extreme viewpoints and with so much money thrown around, even that is not so absolute.
When those that do not threaten the public get punished more than those that do, than you know the goverment body is corrupt.
And that corruption can happen in many different goverment bodies.
Especially in communist and theocratic goverments.

I have to go to work now, you guys let me know who won.

Matt I agree 99%. just the last sentence bothers me. "Especially communist and theocratic governments".
Most capitalist governments are there to protect the establishment and it's greed for all the marbles. The interests of the people come a poor second.
For example what did the US gov do for the poor folk of New Orleans and other places affected by Katrina and the worst floods in living memory? Answer Zilch.
What did the US gov do to protect it's oil interests in Iraq?
Answer Start two illegal wars and do just about everything else they could.

I agree with that 1% to the point to where the politicians do lip service.
If FEMA was treated like a normal business, than they would have been thrown out on their collective asses.
But it can never be a matter of that.
There is the blame game also, which gets attatched to partisan politics.
There are stone cold partisan types that help people in a time of need all the time.
But the finger gets pointed at them because of their philosophies.
There was a rererrendum in the 1950's by a Republican upstart congressman from Kansas named Bob Dole that created a bill so Hospitals and Public establishments would not be whites only.
Al Gore Senior lead the opposition to that bill.
I don't have to agree with all of the conservative politics to understand the beauty in some of their beliefs, just like the liberals.
But there is so much piss and vinegar, I don't know if civilization can hold up through that for very long.
I think that a vice president should be one from the losing candidate of the other party.
An example, if Senator Lieberman as the vice president of Bush.
That would have taken out a lot of the divisiveness.
But that would resemble a parliamentary system many would say.
Maybe in our current political climate that would be the best approach.
There is a time for capitalism and a time for socialism.
Even the best type of system can't get away from that.
It seems to be a matter of a time and need for it.
And unfortunately, there is not an emphasis on that.

Jim, you have not proven anything about Christianity is bad. How have the teachings of Jesus Christ hurt you?

You are right Jim,the bible was written down by man but inspired by God. Man's wisdom compared to God's, is nothing, but then you don't believe in God. I'll still pray for you.

Eb Take a history lesson and see how ALL religions through the ages have done evil things in the name of GOD. Take a look at the hypocracy of religions throughout the world. Then say you will still follow, condone or support something that is so inheritantly illogical and immoral. If there was a god and he had a sense of humour he would be laughing himself silly at all the ridiculous pomp and ceremonies we perform in his name. He would also be crying at all the evil done in his name. So if there is a god why has HE abandoned us for all these millions of years.
I have proven more about the evils and stupidity of religion than anyone including any God has PROVED about THEIR existance.
If I were to make an outrageous claim like I am the long lost king of Scotland. Would you accept it?..... NO
If I were to produce a book saying that I was would you believe that?.... NO. Quit right. That is all I am doing about religion.
So where does the bible come in? It is a history book like all history books full of lies, bias and inaccuracies. Some folk take it literally. WOW
Do you still believe in Santa?

I agree about Mike, too. And this debate never ends...all I can offer is that it really doesn't consist of two "sides" like a lot of us seem to believe.

Centuries ago, a very wise man named Rumi wrote something about that:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

Thanks Everett I know as a Christian it means a lot to you.
Let me say that despite my strong disbeliefs I try to be good and kind to my fellow humans. I also believe in freedom of speech etc. In fact I would defend to the death anyones right to practice any religion providing it does not harm anyone else either physically or mentally.

I'm confused, I just believe in aliens

Think I got some of them working with me, but their papers seemed all right.

Hey Jim you beat me to it... The stock market would by definition of Christianity be the 2nd most anti Christian activity next to mass murder....

We are Christians because we follow the teaching of Jesus for no other reason. Jesus was anti greed... in a big way.. the only thing he ever lost his temper over...

I have faith but do ascribr to a particular brand of religion... the ones I have looked into ALL ask the individual to put the church/temple before Truth and Justice... To me THAT is immoral.

Children are amoral.
Their driving force from day one is to survive.
It is the adults of the world that use children's natural traits to their own selfish ends that are the true jerks of the world.
And the reason all have to have more laws slapped on them.
Graham

"Children are amoral. Their driving force from day one is to survive."

Interesting observation Graham. I think you may be right on that. And in that context, this original discussion is framed much differently.

Kids are certainly no more or less moral than their parents or grandparents or anyone through history. They are exactly the same as they've always been. They only know what we teach them and only behave as we show them through our societal actions. Without man made religions being forced down their throat, they could and would still be moral and immoral the same as they are with any brand of religion they are taught. Not all Muslims are suicide bombers nor are all Christians gang bangers. But some of each are. And the kids today I find to be more tolerant and open to others views than the stodgy old folks who even feel the need in the first place to question what's wrong with kids morality today. Asking the question in the first place reveals a lack of awareness and understanding of history, past and near present. Humans act in very predictable ways in very predictable patterns. History always repeats itself. Even the diversity of humans are simply predictable variations of the main theme of humanity. Poets often act like poets. Musicians like musicians. Actors like Actors. Politicians like Politicians. Caregivers like caregivers, philosophers like philosophers, murderers like murderers, religious figures like religious figures, kids like kids and grouchy old men like grouchy old men.. all whether we're talking 2000 BC, 1AD or 2000AD and most likely 3000AD it will be the same story with a different cast.

I sort of feel like the earth and the human population are very much like a remake of a lame old movie.. predictable plot decorated with today's pretty faces and character actor villains.

But that's just my opinion... I could be right.

Brian

Brian I think you are right.

But I like the villians in movies

Religion and Christianity are like night and day. Religion is man made, Christianity is God made. I don't consider myself religious, only in the broad sense of the word, I consider myself a Christian. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, I know I fall short many times. I can't see how anyone could disagree with the teachings of Jesus. He taught peace and love for your fellow man. Man, and man made religion, has distorted His teaching to suit their greed and ambitions, God does not condone or agree with what man has done or is doing. But God gave man a period of grace and freedom to govern ourselves, just to prove that we can not govern ourselves fairly. That period of grace is fast coming to an end,God(Jesus) will set up His kingdom here on earth for a thousand years of peace, then Satan will be loosed for a short time and he will again try to take over with the aid of evil men, but this time Satan will be cast into hell for ever, along with those that followed him, man will then be judged on how they lived their lives and if they believed and accepted Jesus as their saviour.

Many condemn the bible without ever reading it, it is not an easy book to read and understand, and I don't profess to understand every word in there, no one can understand every thing in there, God wrote it that way so we would have to take it on faith, without faith it is impossible to please God. With the faith of a little child we must believe, with faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, we can move mountains. Jesus said "when I return, will I find faith". Man is fast destroying faith in God, they have faith only in themselves, they believe only in what they can see. If man could prove God with a slide rule, they'd believe, but then that would not be faith.

Jim, you may not like or respect me because of my beliefs, but because of Jesus and His teaching, I love you, Jesus said, "love your enemies and to turn the other cheek". I'll still pray for you and I hope you don't resent me for doing so. You are still a child of God and He loves you, even though you don't love Him in return. He loves you so much that He sent His only son to suffer for your sins so you would not have to. How can you not love a God like that.

Some, (Most) kids will turn out all right. Some will buck the mold.
Astrologers talk about the ages and the pocession of time. The planets were in a certain place when you were born. It takes 25,920 years for the planets to be in the exact place again in relation to each other when you were born. So if Jesus were to appear again like he did before it will take 25,920 years for it to happen.

Some people think there is Chaos in the Universe and others think there is Destiny. Some think we can change the normal course of events because of so called Free Will. If that were true maybe things would be so much better!

The world is going on exactly as it is supposed to, and events happen that we don't like but are neccessary. There is still a lot of superstition in the world. But remember that old saying, Know The Truth and the Truth shall set you Free.

There are postive and negative forces in the Universe. Some people think we can eliminate the negative and just keep the postive. If that were true everything would just stop and never move again. Relax. Everything goes in cycles and from what I can see will never end. Whew! A huge subject in it's self.

I have heard a saying by I don't remember who.
But it goes that if a kid is not Liberal they have no heart.
If an adult is not Conservsative they have no brain.
Somehow though I don't think that had to do with which political party we favor.
You can be a-moral to a point to where you haver to suffer the cosequences for that.
It does'nt seem to be a matter of politics as much as traditional philisophies being said to the young are not as important.
When a society has lost their culture, than they have lost all direction.
It may be too late to turn back.

Where do we go from here?

A lot of this breaks down to a matter of belief. Do you believe kids today are more immoral? There's certainly no empirical evidence, only non-causal data from which folks judge the kids, since so much of morality is a private matter (is it being moral to decide to do the right thing when prodded to at the point of a gun? true morality comes when no one is looking.)

Funny thing, belief, some folks don't believe in it.

My wife has a friend who believes in UFO's. She's certain that 911 was an inside job. Concerning Kennedy, she's convinced that he was assassinated by the government. She doesn't believe we landed on the moon, says it was all done in a tv studio. She thinks our government is evil, but Hugo Chavez is good. She'll tell you that there is a cure for cancer and automobiles that run on water, but they're being hidden from us by greedy corporations. Her jewelry is loaded with copper and magnets to heal her, but she's certain doctors are in a conspiracy with the government to keep us sick. She doesn't vote, says the world government has already chosen the president and just makes us think we vote them in. She washes her vegetables in peroxide, doesn't use toilet paper, thinks there are hidden messages in popular songs, believes there are extra-terrestrial aliens in Area 51, and is certain she's reincarnated from an Egyptian princess. But, she doesn't believe in God...says there's not enough proof.

Whoooaaa. how does she....?

never mind.