Not to be condesending to the Atheists that are 20's somethings?

Question

But this is what I am getting at....
First I am one of those 40 something Baby Boomers and did my fair share of things of my generation, but eventually came back to the values and principles of my parents....

Since Kids of your generation were latch key exposed to the worst TV has to offer a society that values materialism rather than the value of human life, what influences lead your life?

And don't you value the wisdom of your grandparents? since I have worked with the Geriatric Community, they have so much more wisdom and experience that people just dis-respect and blow off.

Answer 1

Im 35, and believe I just missed the huge shift in our culture when it comes to young people. We have kids growing up more and more with parents who are self entitled and godless. People who are more interested in having a two car garage then raising kids. Our society has dictated that old is bad, young and selfish is good. We are in a sad state. I had no idea until I saw the world through the eyes of a Christian. Praise God he delivered me.

EDIT: I do want to add that this post really should not be posed just for atheists. There is a problem in our country with youth in general, regardless of belief or lack therof.

Answer 2

I don't have grandparents. I lived rather long without any TV and I absolutely always would choose human over materialism. I live on my own, I don't overindulge in any drugs and apart from the occasional glass of good wine I don't do any. I value my parent's opinion, but I have witnessed their problems from a rather early age and an interesting ankle: they both tend to tell me what their problems with each other are.
I have a little brother who had chemotherapy for about 2 years between 11 and 15.

My influences, mainly, are adult friends ( the really wise ones I know. I am not up to their level, no way, but they teach so much that I hope to be there at one point) and books. I have recently read David Copperfield, and the way that all these characters are portrayed, with all their flaws, yes almost never judged, taught me a lot about acceptance.

Today we're so used to perfection via TV and magazines, movies and what not that we seem to think that the people around us may not have any flaws. I learned that this is not how it works, and suddenly it seems much easier to just let it go when somebody's nitpicking about the way you open your banana.

I hope I am not disrespectful towards anybody unless I have a reason to. The other day I was told to "crawl back into the hole you came from", and when this happens I still don't blow, I don't lose control and I don't shout or anything, but my words may be laced with dripping sarcasm, and although I love sarcasm, it still is the lowest form of wit. That is about what my form of disrespect is!

Answer 3

I'm not sure you have a question here, but your observations don't make any sense.

Are you saying 20-something atheists are destined to go back to the religion of their parents, just because you did?

Are you saying that young people don't value human life (or that older people value it more)? Or are you saying explicitly that atheists don't value human life and religious people do?


I think all of these assumptions are groundless, and there isn't the slightest reason to accept them. Furthermore:

What does society's lack of regard for the elderly have to do with atheism?

What makes you think that if you're a 20-something atheist your parents and grandparents aren't atheists too?
(Besides, if your argument about respecting the wisdom of your elders is true, then what about the wisdom of the hundreds of generations of pagans from before there was such a thing as Christianity? Shouldn't we all convert to the pagqan beliefs of our ancestors?)

Answer 4

Well now I have the mature wisdom of a guy in his 40's. And from the wisdom of my advanced years I can see the fundamental unfairness of the question. It is a question directed to younger people that is not supposed to be answered by us geezers. it is based on the idea that younger people are too inexperienced to appreciate the truth that older folks have. The younger people are thus at a disadvantage- not having lived into their geriatric 40's the way you have they cannot speak from experience. but those of us who have lived so long are going to be told the question isn't supposed to be answered by us. Sort of a catch 22.

But i'll go ahead and answer anyway: Just because they are atheists doesn't mean that they reject all the values of their elders. They still think you should be kind to people. They still think you shouldn't hurt people without good cause. They share most of the values of their elders. Just as we did when we were their age.

As for atheism- living longer gives you no more objective, empirical evidence that any gods exist. Living longer gives you more concrete experience with whether listening to loud music's a good idea or whether you catch more flies with honey or vinegar. Age gives no more actual evidence of gods. Furthermore, lots of their elders ARE atheists. Why should a young christian ignore the wisdom of us older atheists? Do these young faithful whippersnappers reject the wholesome sagacity of us aged Solons?

Young atheists, as old atheists, rely on reason and evidence in reaching their conclusions. If they decide to abandon that and go with traditional faith when they get older that will be their right. Until then they are right to rely on rationality and to exercise it to their best ability. Chances are they'll find, as I did, that the longer they live, the more they experience, the more they learn, the more they'll continue to see that there ain't no evidence for any gods.

Answer 5

I have found wisdom from people much older than my grandparents' generation--people like Mark Twain, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Epicurus. As soon as some people started claiming there were gods and they knew what the gods wanted, others would ask for proof to believe it. My grandpa himself was an atheist his entire life. TV is not the reason I left Christianity. I left Christianity because the core doctrine seems to devalue human life. I don't think a religion is very beneficial if it teaches that all people deserve to be burned alive forever because two naked people in a garden ate an apple. I also have not found any evidence to believe in such ideas as the divinity of Jesus, the existence of a soul, and the divine inspiration of the Bible.

Answer 6

What you are getting at is stereotypical and judgemental. Which given your generation would be a fitting stereotype for you to be that way. However, what wisdom is truly coming from all of the older generations? They have left most of us in a world filled with more hatred and less peace, more disasters, more waste, more trash and less resources than any other generation on Earth has ever left to the next generation. So for steretyping sake, since that is all this question is based on, there is no wisdom to be found from prior generations in the 1900s due to the fact that they have left this planet in the worst shape it has ever been and have done nothing to help it. Thanks!

FYI - I am a 30 something, latchkey kid who still has faith in what I choose to believe in. Merely being raised as a latchkey kid does not mean that those children lack morals, knowledge, good judgement or mental faculties. Quite frankly, if your baby boomer generation had listened to your parents and grandparents about conservation and stewardship the Earth would not be in this huge mess it is in. So please look to yourself and your own generation for the lack you see in those of us who are younger than you.

Answer 7

Good point. I'm 20 something, but not atheist. My Baby Boomer mother has left the principles she taught me as a child. Go figure.

I think that my generation is much more family focused than the BBs. We love our children passionately... whether we are married, de facto, or single mums and dads. Maybe that IS because we have seen the breakdown of the family and extended family supports. Maybe it IS because we felt so disenfranchised when our own parents took freedom in their grasp and disregarded the security and welfare of their own children (eg had affairs/got divorced, working and too busy to care for us).

I have great respect and value for the wisdom and loyalty of my grandparents.

When I'm a grandmother, I'm going to act like a grandmother, not like a fifteen year old.

Answer 8

actually, that was condescending. but i'll still respond.

you're making generalities about my generation, and i'm not ok with it. sure, there were a lot of latch-key kids and a lot of them had bad influences growing up. but whose fault was that? oh yeah, your generation.

i grew up in a home with a father who worked days and a mother who worked nights so someone would always be home with us. we didn't have cable. in fact, i barely watched tv. i was outside all the time and when i was inside i was reading. i started reading the books in my father's bookshelf when i was 10, which is where i picked up a lot of the ideas that later brought me to agnosticism. i learned to question christianity, and i had parents who embraced my doing so. i read books upon books about other religions, and by the time i went to high school i could have taught a world religion class.

so when you insinuate that the people who have no connection with christianity are repulsing the values of their grandparents and parents because they were raised wrong, i take great offense. i can't thank my parents enough for raising me to think for myself. can't say the same for other religious people, who i don't consider to be half as moral as i am.

Answer 9

I am 30, just beyond the range you're focusing on.

I respect the values and wisdom my parents and grandparents have to offer. I've also learned that my parents and grandparents weren't always right. When it comes to religion, I don't think they're right.

My values are very much driven by family. More-so my wife and daughter than my 'rents (to include parents and grandparents), but also my buddhist in-laws. I have the utmost respect for human life.

Can I ask you one back?
Do you think it's logical to claim Chrisitans value human life when they won't support medical research that will help protect it, and they want to legislate bans on things like gay marriage, which shows no respect for the life of someone who is gay?

Answer 10

You are an idiot. The 20 somethings are the children of your generation. You didn't listen to the values of your parents until you were old enough to understand life. Every generation shrugs at the current generation and wonders why they don't have the same values, when in fact, they do, the exact same values, only they are young and you are not and that makes you bitter. Soon enough these 20 somethings that you find so dis-respectful will be 40 something and wonder why things have changed. Nothing has changed except you. Hopefully, when you get to be a grandparent you will have the same wisdom that the current Geriatic Communtiy has but based on your lack of understanding, so far, I think you have some growing up to do.

BTW I'm also 40something....

Answer 11

You need to get a clue. I'm a 50-something Baby Boomer atheist who did not come back to the [religious] values of my parents. I have two 20-something children. For your information, they were not latchkey kids, nor were any of their friends, and their values are just fine, thank you.

Stop inventing your own nonsensical world and join reality. It will only hurt for a little while.

ADDENDUM

EvolvedKW: Baby Boomers are those born 1946-1964.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer