When I was a little girl, we used to go outside and play with the neighbor kids – games like Hide and Seek and Kick the Can. We lived in a small town, and all the kids close by knew one another, and looked forward to the play time. As we got a little older, we’d roller skate down the street, and ride our bikes all over town. We weren’t afraid that someone would try to kidnap us, and our lives were innocent. Life was simple. Boys were boys, and girls were girls. We went to church every Sunday. I had a mom and a dad.
God was removed from the schools in 1963. I was a sophomore in high school, and we still followed the moral practices of the society our parents had grown up in.
As I got a little older, society began to change. It seemed like a subtle change, little by little, and folks were busy with their lives, so didn’t really notice it as it was happening.
Music was one example. It went through a transition from the innocent songs and big bands of the 40s to Elvis and the Beatles in the 60s, then heavy metal and hard rock in the 70s and 80s. At the same time, drugs came on the scene. We were taught in school to stay away from drugs, as they would destroy our lives. Meanwhile, the popular bands openly used them, and those who placed those bands and entertainers on a high level, followed suit. Today, we see the results of that growing problem, with so many lives affected by the drugs they depend upon – and the loss of lives.
The welfare state came into existence, taking the initiative away the necessity of having a two-parent family, and the “State” took a parenting role. The interest in God, family and church gave way to a more hedonistic society, where women became independent and getting ahead at work became more important than raising a family. Kids became “latch-key” with babysitters instead of moms. Of course, there were exceptions – there are always exceptions, thank God – but society as a whole was in flux, moving in a direction that saw increasing violence and crime, less or even no respect for the elders, and a sexual revolution that ignored the admonitions of God and the Bible.
Boys and girls began to dress alike. There was a move toward “unisex”. Over time, boys were no longer “boys”, but could define themselves as “girls” or a myriad of other things. Abortion became a norm in 1964, too, after the Supreme Court upheld Roe V Wade. As a result, the population began to drop. Society was changing, and not in a good way.
Innocence died, as the public schools began to teach “sex education” at a very early age when kids should be playing with toys and be ignorant of such things.
I’ve been on the planet for a while, and I’ve seen these changes happening – and many more – with my own eyes. Has this been happening as a natural progression, or has it been orchestrated by some force?
The light-heartedness of days past is gone. It seems that everyone with whom I visit is depressed about the direction our society has taken and can’t see any way to reverse the trend. Sometimes I feel that way, too – when I look around and see what’s happening across our nation and the world.
When these feelings come, I remember what it used to be like, and am grateful that I got to live in that time. I share those times and the reason we were innocent and more carefree then with anyone who will listen, especially younger folks.
There are others who have been through these changes and understand what I know to be true. Our nation was founded on principles based in God’s Word, and we have gone away from those principles. If we are ever to experience the joy that I and others of my generation did, we will need to get back onto the right path. First and foremost, we need God back in our lives and our communities – and to reinstitute those principles. That happens when individuals get involved in their communities – whether it’s politics or community organizations – to bring those ideals back into the spotlight and act upon them. It happens when men and women marry and raise a family together in a church that emphasizes those biblical principles.
So, a word of encouragement: when it feels like nothing is going right, and the everyone in the world is against you, offer up a prayer to the God of Creation to give you strength, wisdom and the ability to take some kind of action to bring about a societal change that will return joy and innocence.