I missed the 60's.
I was born in 1974 in the time of the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon. The Vietnam War was coming to an end, Woodstock was a pipe dream rapidly fading into the rear view mirror, The Doors were gone, Janis Joplin was gone, Jimi Hendrix was gone; JFK and RFK were gone, MLK was gone, LSD and heroin were disappearing; protest music was being replaced by ballads and disco, tie-dye t-shirts were being replaced by tempered-back avocado and burnt orange themes, and the nation was moving in a different direction.
After all the activism of the 60's, America was tired. We were tired of the Vietnam War and all the protests and arguing and fighting here at home. We were tired of marches, tired of demonstrations, tired of, well, just about everything. The music and culture of the 70's showed this.
After the decade of the 70's when America figuratively sat down on the couch and chilled out after an exhausting decade sexual liberation, protest marches, experimental drugs, wars, and division, a new decade emerged- the 80's. The election of President Ronald Reagan ushered in something that no one sitting in a New York field the summer of 1969 listening to Hendrix playing the Star-Spangled Banner could ever have imagined: a decade characterized by a massive shift to the right politically and culturally. The 80's marked one of the most conservative decades in recent history, paralleled only by the 50's (which was led by the Greatest Generation- children of the Great Depression and World War II).
No one saw the 80's coming. Especially not in the middle of the protest marches of the 60's.
The last seven years in America has been a time like the 60's. The election of Barack Obama ushered in an unprecedented chapter of liberalism: optimism about government, dreams of a post-racial society, dreams of peace, dreams of a new society based on equality and fairness. It also ushered in a time of intense division and fighting. We have done nothing but fight each other for the past seven years- liberals vs conservatives, leftists vs right-wingers, states vs federal government, Supreme Court vs the people, 1-percenters vs the 99-percenters, Wall Street vs Main Street, police vs minorities, Christians vs atheists, Muslims vs the whole world, immigrants vs nationalists, gun owners vs gun grabbers, homosexual activists vs anti-gay marriage supporters, and the list goes on.
Social media is a battleground. Activists on all sides. Common ground is out- polarization is in. Compromise is scorned, winning at all cost is valued. Arguing, gutter sniping, character assassination, media trolls, and public shaming are at an all-time high. Gay marriage was legalized after a long drawn-out fight, but instead of ending the battle, it only intensified. Our leaders seem incapable of solving any problem- in fact, they probably are the cause behind all the division. All of this is simply exhausting.
The times we are living in right now resemble, to a large degree, the 1960's.
And this era is ending.
Just like in the 1960's, reality is invading. The flower children of the 1960's found out that evil couldn't be eradicated by getting stoned and driving VW buses. They found that chasing utopia by governmental means is like chasing a will-o-the-wisp, just always slightly out of reach. The same is true of this era of liberalism and "progressivism."
We are discovering that universal health care ISN'T free- in fact, it is very expensive. We are discovering that we can't borrow our way to prosperity. We are discovering that evil can't be legislated away. We are discovering, once again, that politicians lie. We are discovering that instead of freedom, the new liberalism has given us repression and fascism- speech codes and "micro-aggressions" on college campuses, suing of businesses for not toeing the politically correct line, scandals from our supposed governmental "saviors," a bitterly divided and angry populace, fracturing of the family, unsustainable governmental debt, crushing student loans and credit card debt, and lack of trust in just about every institution that is responsible for keeping America together (law enforcement, churches, families, marriage, etc).
America is getting weary. We can only fight so long before we exhaust ourselves. No one has unlimited energy, and no one has the stomach to keep fighting, fighting, fighting.
Small children in the sixties saw their parents get all worked up over everything. They saw their parents engaging in culture wars. They saw the marches and the anger and the activism. They saw the results. They didn't like them. And they completely checked out.
The same is true of us today. My children have grown up in the Obama era of liberalism and progressivism. They've seen the culture wars. They've seen people argue. They've seen the social media battles, especially on Facebook, and they've seen the hatred flying around. The result? Anyone with teenagers now know that there are no young people on Facebook.
Why are the young people abandoning Facebook? The quick answer is that their parents are there, and therefore they don't want anything to do with it. I disagree.
I think they are off of Facebook because they are sick of the battles.
Teens flock to social media where you can't argue. They love Instagram and SnapChat. You can't argue there. You can't have character assassination and trolling and public shaming there. It's a different kind of connection- a place without battles. That's where the kids are. They are tired of the Twitter wars and Facebook battles and division.
I think we are about to see a period of rest, just like the 1970's. Activism is going to fade away- people just won't have the energy for it. If history has anything to say about it, we are about to see a new era of conservatism, maybe not socially, but definitely politically. Activists will be publicly shamed and shunned- they've burnt through their capital and will be increasingly seen as more annoying than anything else. This new era will be marked with cynicism and distrust of our institutions. That will continue. The new normal in America will be one of moodiness and gloom as the nation tries to process the changes that have occurred in the Obama administration years.
I anticipate that there won't be many large court cases for awhile. America will enter a time of settling down, pulling back, disengaging from fights and battles and arguments. After that, there will be a new era of conservatism that will be the exact opposite of the Obama years. This has already happened from 1960-1988. It will most likely happen again.
The younger generations typically do not follow the older ones. The children of the 60's flower children rebelled and voted for Reagan. The children of the Reagan era conservatives rebelled and voted for Obama. The children of the Obama activists and social media warriors will rebel and move the other way. I believe this is what is next for America.
The question is- how does the church navigate these changing waters? Simple- the gospel message is more relevant now than at any other time in American history. As the pipe dream of the governmental savior fades with disillusionment, the eternal hope of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ becomes even more attractive. The Church has been given an amazing opportunity to lead this nation. Right now, more than any other time in my life, Christianity stands in stark contrast to the culture. It is time to show this world the beauty of the Church- it's message of love, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, faithfulness, sexual fidelity, purity, honesty, and truth. It is time for the Church to step up in leaderless, disillusioned communities and be the voice of sanity and reason.
We've been given a great opportunity. Let's not waste it.
I was born in 1974 in the time of the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon. The Vietnam War was coming to an end, Woodstock was a pipe dream rapidly fading into the rear view mirror, The Doors were gone, Janis Joplin was gone, Jimi Hendrix was gone; JFK and RFK were gone, MLK was gone, LSD and heroin were disappearing; protest music was being replaced by ballads and disco, tie-dye t-shirts were being replaced by tempered-back avocado and burnt orange themes, and the nation was moving in a different direction.
After all the activism of the 60's, America was tired. We were tired of the Vietnam War and all the protests and arguing and fighting here at home. We were tired of marches, tired of demonstrations, tired of, well, just about everything. The music and culture of the 70's showed this.
After the decade of the 70's when America figuratively sat down on the couch and chilled out after an exhausting decade sexual liberation, protest marches, experimental drugs, wars, and division, a new decade emerged- the 80's. The election of President Ronald Reagan ushered in something that no one sitting in a New York field the summer of 1969 listening to Hendrix playing the Star-Spangled Banner could ever have imagined: a decade characterized by a massive shift to the right politically and culturally. The 80's marked one of the most conservative decades in recent history, paralleled only by the 50's (which was led by the Greatest Generation- children of the Great Depression and World War II).
No one saw the 80's coming. Especially not in the middle of the protest marches of the 60's.
The last seven years in America has been a time like the 60's. The election of Barack Obama ushered in an unprecedented chapter of liberalism: optimism about government, dreams of a post-racial society, dreams of peace, dreams of a new society based on equality and fairness. It also ushered in a time of intense division and fighting. We have done nothing but fight each other for the past seven years- liberals vs conservatives, leftists vs right-wingers, states vs federal government, Supreme Court vs the people, 1-percenters vs the 99-percenters, Wall Street vs Main Street, police vs minorities, Christians vs atheists, Muslims vs the whole world, immigrants vs nationalists, gun owners vs gun grabbers, homosexual activists vs anti-gay marriage supporters, and the list goes on.
Social media is a battleground. Activists on all sides. Common ground is out- polarization is in. Compromise is scorned, winning at all cost is valued. Arguing, gutter sniping, character assassination, media trolls, and public shaming are at an all-time high. Gay marriage was legalized after a long drawn-out fight, but instead of ending the battle, it only intensified. Our leaders seem incapable of solving any problem- in fact, they probably are the cause behind all the division. All of this is simply exhausting.
The times we are living in right now resemble, to a large degree, the 1960's.
And this era is ending.
Just like in the 1960's, reality is invading. The flower children of the 1960's found out that evil couldn't be eradicated by getting stoned and driving VW buses. They found that chasing utopia by governmental means is like chasing a will-o-the-wisp, just always slightly out of reach. The same is true of this era of liberalism and "progressivism."
We are discovering that universal health care ISN'T free- in fact, it is very expensive. We are discovering that we can't borrow our way to prosperity. We are discovering that evil can't be legislated away. We are discovering, once again, that politicians lie. We are discovering that instead of freedom, the new liberalism has given us repression and fascism- speech codes and "micro-aggressions" on college campuses, suing of businesses for not toeing the politically correct line, scandals from our supposed governmental "saviors," a bitterly divided and angry populace, fracturing of the family, unsustainable governmental debt, crushing student loans and credit card debt, and lack of trust in just about every institution that is responsible for keeping America together (law enforcement, churches, families, marriage, etc).
America is getting weary. We can only fight so long before we exhaust ourselves. No one has unlimited energy, and no one has the stomach to keep fighting, fighting, fighting.
Small children in the sixties saw their parents get all worked up over everything. They saw their parents engaging in culture wars. They saw the marches and the anger and the activism. They saw the results. They didn't like them. And they completely checked out.
The same is true of us today. My children have grown up in the Obama era of liberalism and progressivism. They've seen the culture wars. They've seen people argue. They've seen the social media battles, especially on Facebook, and they've seen the hatred flying around. The result? Anyone with teenagers now know that there are no young people on Facebook.
Why are the young people abandoning Facebook? The quick answer is that their parents are there, and therefore they don't want anything to do with it. I disagree.
I think they are off of Facebook because they are sick of the battles.
Teens flock to social media where you can't argue. They love Instagram and SnapChat. You can't argue there. You can't have character assassination and trolling and public shaming there. It's a different kind of connection- a place without battles. That's where the kids are. They are tired of the Twitter wars and Facebook battles and division.
I think we are about to see a period of rest, just like the 1970's. Activism is going to fade away- people just won't have the energy for it. If history has anything to say about it, we are about to see a new era of conservatism, maybe not socially, but definitely politically. Activists will be publicly shamed and shunned- they've burnt through their capital and will be increasingly seen as more annoying than anything else. This new era will be marked with cynicism and distrust of our institutions. That will continue. The new normal in America will be one of moodiness and gloom as the nation tries to process the changes that have occurred in the Obama administration years.
I anticipate that there won't be many large court cases for awhile. America will enter a time of settling down, pulling back, disengaging from fights and battles and arguments. After that, there will be a new era of conservatism that will be the exact opposite of the Obama years. This has already happened from 1960-1988. It will most likely happen again.
The younger generations typically do not follow the older ones. The children of the 60's flower children rebelled and voted for Reagan. The children of the Reagan era conservatives rebelled and voted for Obama. The children of the Obama activists and social media warriors will rebel and move the other way. I believe this is what is next for America.
The question is- how does the church navigate these changing waters? Simple- the gospel message is more relevant now than at any other time in American history. As the pipe dream of the governmental savior fades with disillusionment, the eternal hope of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ becomes even more attractive. The Church has been given an amazing opportunity to lead this nation. Right now, more than any other time in my life, Christianity stands in stark contrast to the culture. It is time to show this world the beauty of the Church- it's message of love, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, faithfulness, sexual fidelity, purity, honesty, and truth. It is time for the Church to step up in leaderless, disillusioned communities and be the voice of sanity and reason.
We've been given a great opportunity. Let's not waste it.
