Wednesday, March 12, 2008

An old testament snapshot of modern america

Micah 7:1-7
1 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs that I crave.
2 The godly have been swept from the land;
not one upright man remains.
All men lie in wait to shed blood;
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen has come,
the day God visits you.
Now is the time of their confusion.
5 Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.
Even with her who lies in your embrace
be careful of your words.
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man's enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.

These are the words of the prophet Micah concerning the people of Judah before God handed them over to the Babylonians to be slaughtered and enslaved. How fitting are these words to the society we live in today. Our politicians are thoroughly corrupt and the decadence of our society is everywhere for the eye to see.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Sexual revolution in China

An interesting story appeared today on CNN's website about a chinese sexual revolution and likens it to our own revolution of the 60's.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/02/china.sex.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
The thrust of the story seems to lay blame on 4 factors:
1. Declining authoritarianism of government.
2. The Taboo of the word sex.
3. The rise of capitalism.
4. Lack of sex education.
You would almost think that this story came right off of the presses of the communist propaganda department.

"China is in the midst of a sexual revolution, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life. The relaxed attitudes about sex mark a historic turnaround from the days when love and sex were denounced as bourgeois decadence, and unisex Mao suits and drab austerity were the norm...Now, a government that once had say over when and whom people could marry is more concerned about regulating interest rates. And rising incomes have allowed urban Chinese to pursue much more than mere survival."


One fact in the story which they mention in passing, "the average urban marriage age has crept steadily higher, reaching 31 for men in Shanghai last year." , I think this is the root cause of not only Chinas recent problems, but also our own. The problem is not caused by lack of sex education or the rise of capitalism but a natural side effect of delaying marriage. One major side effect of industrial societies is that to be successful one has to have a much higher level of education than in an agricultural society. This causes us to put off getting married until we are 'ready for it'. Where once societies would marry off their young people almost as soon as their hormones started kicking in. Now we try to put off the sacrement of marriage until after the peak of hormonal urges start to subside.

I dont know if there is a solution to this problem but it is naive at best to blame the natural result of repressed nature on lack of education or capitalism.