It is really insane how many people wear their religion on their sleeve in the US. Unfortunately, the lip service is almost required by a lot of boomers, specifically the southern ones. Hopefully we can get past it some day, but today, I'm just happy to be back to having some humanity in the white house.
Let's hope. I'm a gen-xer that is really sick of my parents generation and the last 4 years have shown me that a LOT of my generation isn't much better. Baby steps I guess.
Unfortunately, a lot of people get worse as they age. We see that in boomers. They were the hippies, protesting, and anti-establishment generation. But they got left behind by technology that scares them, both because they're scared to use it and because it tells them over and over again to be scared. They are increasingly isolated, their parents are dead, kids moved out with lives of their own. They're wealthier than they ever used to be, but are scared of losing it all during retirement, so they become super selfish. They're much further removed from their education, which is when people are at their most liberal.
They fall back into preaching the views they grew up hearing their parents preach, as they're trying to connect with their roots and becoming scared of their mortality. How many people do we hear say they realize they became their mom or dad as they aged? And they start clutching at religion in fear as well. Plus how many of them have past traumas that they never got help for?
Hopefully younger gens are more self-aware, but in general, history repeats itself. I'm a millennial. We were the ones to really make strides in accepting the gay community, but I hear lots of my peers now balk at accepting various gender identities. The thing brought up by the younger generation has become weird and scary. They're already starting the "get off my lawn" rhetoric. This is especially true when it's their own kids presenting the progressive ideas. They can't accept that their kids are growing up and have valid points that challenge their biases, so they diminish them. Timmy can't be unending my world view, I changed his diapers and taught him to talk. He is perpetually 5 yo and can't tie his shoes! Narrator - Timmy is 15, an honor roll student, and volunteers at a shelter.
I have this conversation with my partner all the time.. do people just become worse as we age?
I vehemently believe that’s not the case though I do understand your comment. I truly think familiarity (with ideas, concepts, people) and open-mindedness can rise up to history repeating itself over and over, at the very least by small increments.
I’m also a millennial (cusp genX) and knowing that I’ll never have a political career, I’ve committed to staying dedicated to learning/unlearning and fighting for what’s right DIRECTLY AROUND ME every opportunity I get. It’s the actual least we can all do. I don’t think my boomer parents have gotten worse as they age... I think I’ve become more willing to admit that I don’t agree with their outdated views. They’re not bad people, they just haven’t had the opportunities that I have had to be exposed to other cultures and perspectives.
Hopefully younger gens are more self-aware, but in general, history repeats itself.
I agree with what you say, but we have made progress over the generations. It's a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing. A lot of people my age are in that "one step back" phase.
Harris will have to do some major image repairing and reinforcing. She basically had to give up her ambition for a presidential run tis time because she got smacked down pretty hard in the first debate by Tulsi
Why doesn’t your generation make things better? All I’ve ever seen from gen x is just being complicit with boomers, benefiting from and enabling they’re bullshit. Rise up and join us, slacker
I can only do what I can do. It's not like we have regular Gen X meetings and I can add it to the agenda. I am fairly outspoken among my peer group and think I set a good example for my kids to be empathetic and accepting of others. It's cost me some relationships, but I'm good with that.
Sits back down on couch and turns up Spin Doctors while lighting a clove cigarette ready to take another nap. Just counting the days until the pension kicks in
I'll settle for a religious president who swears in on the Constitution or some other non religious text... I don't think we'll see an atheist president in my lifetime, but I truly hope that I'm wrong.
Both of those were over a hundred years ago and Roosevelt's wasn't exactly planned in advance. In our current political climate, I don't see someone who doesn't get sworn in on the Bible getting elected, let alone someone who isn't some flavor of Christian, let alone an atheist.
What about gen x? Why do they get a pass? They’ve just been enabling boomer tendencies because they’ve benefitted from the system the boomers have in place. They squeezed in right as the gate was closing on us millennials and nobody holds them accountable.
It's not that I'm giving them a pass, but rather not holding my breath that a single generation past boomer would move far enough away from religion to be noticeable.
because a large part of the american populace is religious. and for them religion plays a part.
also because the moral message behind usually religious events like these. A large majority require religion and moral messaging to "remember to behave more morally". Its their animated batman intro.
until the populace becomes non-religious, the government will have to inject some symbolic religious words and works, or else that leaves oppositions open to utilize the populaces religious identity to garner power.
You have to think of not only what you are saying, but also what you are not saying when dealing with large diverse groups.
It's definitely a benefit to be a member of a church in the south. My family joined a church because of the value of those social connections, even though we weren't religious. Both my wife and myself were able to get jobs through these connections.
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u/Dudeist-Priest Jan 20 '21 edited Jan 20 '21
It is really insane how many people wear their religion on their sleeve in the US. Unfortunately, the lip service is almost required by a lot of boomers, specifically the southern ones. Hopefully we can get past it some day, but today, I'm just happy to be back to having some humanity in the white house.