I am 65 and experiencing things I never thought possible when I was 25, and I’m not talking about technological wonders.
When I was 25,
-No one searched my bag when I went into a church service. Now, in many churches this is a routine security check.
-Culture knew the difference between male and female, sort of a no-brainer. But not anymore. Facebook offers something like 56 gender options and some are arguing there’s more than 70. I’m sometimes confused, but not about this.
-No one policed the infants and children’s areas for fear someone would come to harm or take a child. I know this is now necessary and am glad for the people who protect children, but I’m saddened by this obvious change in our culture.
-Churches didn’t have special windows in children’s areas not only so people could walk by and enjoy them but to increase the number of “eyes-on” as an accountability to all adults working with or entering among children, thus to protect the children from various kinds of abuse.
-Criminal and financial background checks were not performed for every personnel hire, even within religious nonprofits, because today, there’s too much risk, too much legal exposure for hiring a person who has serious issues.
-No one thought much about it to see a young man walk down a country road with a rifle.
-Most people thought patriotism was a good thing, even hippies leftover from the 60s.
-On trips short and long our children romped freely on a quilt we placed in the back end, back seat down, of our hatchback Chevy Vega (I loved that car), not in car seats made for astronauts. Now I am not against progress in keeping children safe, of course, but I am forever amazed at how involved and how expensive our kids’ kids’ stuff has now become.
-Politically correct meant we could answer questions about politics and government accurately.
-Gay meant happy.
Strange changes, not all of which are progress.
Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2018
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