Does this happen every generation? Or is something actually different?

[JimG]

I grew up in a pretty placid era, the 1950’s, and didn’t notice much change when I turned 30, except that I got married, which was normal back then. Now, not so much, or sometimes more temporary. There were hardly any divorced folks in my neighborhood, nobody thought they were the opposite sex, drag queens didn’t read to kid’s in the library. (We were encouraged to keep quiet in the library.) School kids didn’t learn about how to have sex or use condoms. Abortion was mostly illegal, and in some states so was fornication, adultery, and sodomy.

I don’t recall even my father’s generation noting any big changes in society, except for surviving WW-II or the Great Depression.

There were no school shootings. Most people stayed married for life.
Catholics went as a family to confession on Saturday and Mass on Sunday. Porn was not available in most places; there were no cell phones, no internet.

 

[twf]

Is

There was more than a few leaders involved with the evils of the Holocaust and Nazism. The sins of a “few” people doesn’t lead to the mass murder of 12 million… but regardless, I think you are seeing the past through rose tinted glasses. Yes there are new rampant evils… but a century ago there were other rampant evils that you seem to disregard. Far more wives were beat by their husbands without recourse. Far more children were beat by parents or teachers without recourse (I do not mean spanking - I mean beaten). Many people were extremely racist and treated other races / ethnicities in terrible ways. Many people went to church only out of obligation without any real faith.

 

[Emeraldlady]

I guess I’m asking for the older generations here, who have the experience of having lived across more time than I have.

I am 30 years old. And it feels like the world is, well… getting real. Like, everything is a madhouse. Every little thing seems to have obvious (and dramatic) spiritual impact. It feels like the demonic is practically visible. (For example, mass gender confusion, mass child sacrifice (abortion), mass hysteria and anger between peoples, and even within many families.)

I’m 58 this year. My Dad spent 20 years doing family history research. My Dad died last June and my Mum was moved into and aged care facility 2 months ago. Mum and Dad travelled to Ireland and England in the 90’s to visit relatives we found and to collate the stories they could contribute to our family history. I’ve been sitting for hours in the musty dust of my Dad’s big filing cabinet of family history as I clean out their house for sale… constantly shocked and saddened by the records of the life of my family in the 18th and 19th century. We seem so shocked by todays events that you’ve listed… but really aren’t aware of the attitudes and government policies of centuries ago that were prejudiced, supremacist and inhumane that resulted in so much death and rejection.

We are in a position today when all is said and done, to find much to be thankful for both in society and the teachings of the Church.

 

[Peeps]

You sound like an interesting person. It’s unusual to meet a 30-something who can talk about anything other than the latest Netflix or Hulu series.

I’m 62, so I was your age in the 1980s, which were a wonderful time, IMO!

But when I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, the world definitely seemed to be falling apart. I grew up with the Viet Nam war, and thankfully, it ended before my future husband had to submit to be drafted. My brother would have been exempt because of his feet.

But it was awful to see so many young people going overseas and coming back in body bags. It was even more awful to see the ones who came back alive get ridiculed and shamed for their service.

And the protests against the war seemed to get bigger and more violent, culminating that horrible day when the four students were killed at Kent State University.

Along with the Viet Nam war came the race riots, the rise of Satanism (Anton La Vey was a celeb during my teen years), the rise of Women’s Liberation (which had some good points, but was so divisive), the rise of “Free Love” or more accurately, “Free Sex”, the drug culture (Tune in, Turn On, Drop Out), the lack of respect for authority, and of course, the oppressive reality of the Iron Curtain and the oppression and murder of innocent people living in Soviet countries, and of course, the ever-present fear of the Atom Bomb.

I remember my parents whispering together during the summer of 1968 (they thought my brother and I couldn’t hear them) and saying, “Is this the end of the world?”

So yes, I think it DOES happen every generation.

 

[JimG]

Many people seem to think that the current attacks on the traditional family are just minor annoyances. But the family is the building block of civilization. Destroying it is no minor matter. Divorce, contraception, abortion, IVF, same sex unions, gender ideology, sexual licentiousness, porn, sexual indoctrination of children, all work to undermine the family.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

Many people seem to think that the current attacks on the traditional family are just minor annoyances. But the family is the building block of civilization. Destroying it is no minor matter.

I agree this is probably the biggest single threat today. It really started in the 60’s or 70’s but it is reaching a crescendo today.

 

[EndTimes]

I am 30 years old. And it feels like the world is, well… getting real. Like, everything is a madhouse. Every little thing seems to have obvious (and dramatic) spiritual impact. It feels like the demonic is practically visible. (For example, mass gender confusion, mass child sacrifice (abortion), mass hysteria and anger between peoples, and even within many families.)

It IS getting ‘realer’ - It’s NOT business as usual…

 

[JanR]

World War II and Nazism and the Holocaust were less evil than what we’re seeing today? There is definitely great evil today…: but there’s always been great evil.

Due to mass media, I think we’re more aware of it today that in previous times.

Great evils will always replace one another. As one great evil is defeated, another rises up.

Nobody knows when the world will end.

 

[po18guy]

For 100 generations, the “end times” has been their last breath. And so it will almost assuredly be with us.

 

[jack63]

Well…we could be living during WWI, WWII, the civil war, the 1960’s, the reformation, the napoleonic wars, or the Great Depression.

Come to think of it, the 2000’s weren’t much fun with the Great Recession…

 

[childinthefaith]

Yup. And to support that, look in some history books regarding all the predictions of the “end” from different groups + their leaders, along with the crazy stuff going on within a generation of them…

Just.
Be.
Ready.

 

[ricmat]

Do you think that the souls of people living during WW1, civil war, etc. were more in danger of going to Hell than today’s souls? Certainly things are better now from a materialistic standpoint. But as it says in the Bible “what good is it to gain the world but to lose your soul.”

The opportunities for Hell are growing by leaps and bounds. Pushed by high influence actors such as the media, left wing political parties, K-12 schools and universities. Perversions are being taught as good, and good things are taught as being evil. This is the REAL danger.

 

[jack63]

Do you think that the souls of people living during WW1, civil war, etc. were more in danger of going to Hell than today’s souls?

Actually, I will say that if you’ve ever talked, I mean really talked to a WWII vet…perhaps your grandfather or great grandfather, you’d say yes there were more souls in danger of hell. What people experienced and did throughout the world during this time and leading up to it was terrible and crazy. Perhaps read some books about WWII from the Americans point of view, from the Russian’s point of view, from the Chinese’s point of view, etc

 

[ricmat]

Actually, I will say that if you’ve ever talked, I mean really talked to a WWII vet…perhaps your grandfather or great grandfather, you’d say yes there were more souls in danger of hell. What people experienced and did throughout the world during this time and leading up to it was terrible and crazy. Perhaps read some books about WWII from the Americans point of view, from the Russian’s point of view, from the Chinese’s point of view, etc

Thank you for your reply. But I think you missed my point (or perhaps I didn’t explain it clearly - which happens more often than not. My typing fingers get ahead of my brain?).

My parents grew up during the great depression, so I’ve heard a lot from that perspective - but mostly about boundless opportunities to do good works. I’m well read on history in general and wars in particular. Certainly I could read more, but I’m busier in retirement than I was when I was working.

I ask this question with sincerity. What is it that causes souls to go to Hell? My answer would be that it is directly related to the (moral) choices those souls made while they were alive. Certainly, in times of war, there are many opportunities to make moral choices, and many people go the wrong direction. But I suggest that people of those previous generations were better equipped to make good moral choices because they were taught directly how to do so at home or at school, or indirectly assimilated that wisdom from society in general. Society was not perfect. Someone in a post above mentioned that people only went to church out of obligation. But even that was fulfilling the 3rd commandment, instead of sinning mortally.

What is different now is that young people are being trained from birth to make bad moral choices, be it a time of war or not. Or a time of plenty, or not. Society in general is devolving morally, with the enthusiastic support of the media, educational institutions, and even some churches.

It is true that all ages had their prophets of doom, and regarding the end times, they’ve all been wrong so far. It’s also true that we should all treat each day as though it will be our last day. Unfortunately there are many that want to ignore this bad situation in the hopes that if they don’t look for it or see it then it doesn’t exist (I’m not talking about anyone specifically here, but this seems to be a common refrain to many concerns expressed here on CAF).

I hope this post clarifies my POV. If I have misinterpreted anything you said, we can discuss it further.

Peace be with us all!

 

[Sarcelle]

Does it always feel like this? In every generation? As people come of age as adults, is there always ‘something’ going on in the world, that seems like the plausible end times?

For me who grew up during the tail end of the Cold War, there was the sense of impending nuclear annihilation. Add to that the troubles with Iran and the Middle East which is still ongoing. I also remember 9/11.

The world always has had an atmosphere of impending catastrophe.

I also remember the Y2K scare and the scare about HIV.

I suppose Boomers, some of them, will remember the Cuban missile crisis and Vietnam, the oil embargo.

 

[C.Ray]

I am 30 years old. And it feels like the world is, well… getting real.

I think the older you get the more you are capable of paying attention to people who aren’t you.

When this happens you realize that it is indeed a madhouse out there. It has been all this time; you probably haven’t noticed it before.

I was this way.

 

[Sarcelle]

When this happens you realize that it is indeed a madhouse out there.

Reminds me of the country song, “God is great, beer is good and people are crazy.”

Search for it in YouTube. It’s an actual song.

 

[twf]

Did you see my earlier post regarding the widespread sinful attitudes towards women and minorities? How we treat people is also a core part of this “equation”.

 

[ricmat]

Did you see my earlier post regarding the widespread sinful attitudes towards women and minorities? How we treat people is also a core part of this “equation”.

I’m not sure what you mean by “equation.”

I agree that sinful attitudes towards women and minorities are sinful. In the past and in the present.

The past wasn’t perfect, and in some things have gotten better. Those are things we should obviouslly keep. Racism is not so bad as it was 70 years ago, for example.

Wife beating, while it occurred in the past was never “taught” in schools, or normalized by main stream media in the past or present. Whether or not the situation is better now - I don’t know.

Things like women murdering their own children (including baby women) have gotten much worse.
And there are new horrible activities occuring (for example, government forcing children to transition to the opposite sex because one parent wants it to happen). Or teaching that sex changes are actually real. This is new, and growing rapidly. Such things didn’t even exist in the past and are spreading like a plague all over the world.

I call these things “greater” evil because they go to the very heart of who God created us to be, and our purpose. He created us male and female, and told us to go forth and multiply.

 

[twf]

Slavery and the normalization of rape (of minority women) could be added to the list. For “wife beating”, no it wasn’t taught, but in past eras there was definitely a sense that the man is the absolute head of the house and as such abused women had few recourses…if anyone even believed them.

If we look at other cultures, beyond the West, there were other evils. Sure abortion is a horrendous evil…beyond the pale and very widespread. But it wasn’t that long ago that fathers in China had the right to kill their born babies, especially if girls.