The recent riots and looting that started in London and spread across England was very disturbing to watch. I found the news very depressing… enough to put me in a bit of a funk and begin pondering how things got that way. The thought of a generation that would erupt in chaos should be incredibly frightening to all of us. If we are honest here in the states, we should admit that the same could happen in our cities in a moments notice. Why is that? What has happened to society that could make such an outburst even thinkable. Generations each have their quirks but I fear that there are solid reasons, failings actually, that have caused this mess. As I watched the news (and read about it in the British press) one phrase kept coming back to mind. We reap what we sow. The commentaries in the press (UK) are using phrases like “lost generation” and “moral decay”, but these don’t begin to grasp the reality that society is directly responsible for what has occurred. What do I mean by that? To suggest that a generation is lost sounds rather passive in a way. When a child gets lost, it’s usually due to curiosity, distraction, disorientation, or something like that. The responsibility of the parent was to pay attention so that this did not happen. While it would be fair to say that we (collectively as a society) have not paid enough attention to the generation involved in this, it misses the real point. Moral decay is similarly a passive phrase. It suggests that we should have done more than we did but neglects the reality that what we have done is actually create the monster.
If it is true that we reap what we sow, then we cannot deflect the burden of reality that our society and ways of raising children caused this mess. There were outbursts and even violence in previous generations (consider the protest years of the 1960’s) but they were directed at something, a cause that was so strongly believed in that it seemed worth kicking up a fuss. The looting and destruction in London and beyond appears pointless and without any focus. Even the arrested being interviewed have given no consistent explanation for their behavior. So, if we made this mess, how did we do it? And, more frighteningly, how are we fueling it? A few thoughts come to mind. I could be way off base here. Just posting this whole thing was rather intimidating because I know there are great limits to what I am suggesting and it only scratches the surface of a rather large mess.
First, to begin broadly, the whole idea of political correctness and the dishonesty of denying realities is a major factor in my mind when we consider the issues at hand. We are so entrenched in political correctness that we fail to call things what they are. Our greatest fear in life has become the whole notion of offending someone else. So many realities in life are offensive and we ought to get over it. We add to this what I referred to as the dishonesty of denying realities. By that I think specifically of the attempt at multiculturalism that has polluted every aspect of life. Generations before used to immigrate and adapt the ways of that country. America was known as the great melting pot where cultures were absorbed into one mass that celebrated a diversity of histories but all considered themselves Americans. Today we are a mosaic where there is very little melting and people retain their culture and language of origin refusing to melt into one vision of a country. Britain had it’s share of immigrants moving in and becoming british. Yet the notion of multiculturalism denies the reality that for a country to stand strong, it must stand together. A few years ago, several international voices suggested that multiculturalism has failed. I personally believe that these riots are evidence of this failure because it does not represent one nation seeking for the welfare of all.
Second parenting of the generation involved has been nominal at best. While this is a sweeping generalization, parents in my generation have gone soft. I say my generation because my own children are in the age range of the looters and rioters. We have, generally speaking, failed to discipline and failed to teach virtues and emphasize character. Thus so many young people today do not know the difference between a lie and the truth, between honest gain and that which is ill gotten, between what is real and what is imagined. To be fair, today’s parent faces a whole different set of issues to deal with. It may be that the virtues and ethics we need parents to pass along to the next generation are already absent in the home. In my mind, this would suggest that young people may need grandparents as much in their lives as their parents are or should be.
Third, the absence of consequences for an entire generation has led to a collective false sense of invulnerability. We did this in schools by failing to punish bullies and badly behaved pupils. We did this in homes when we protected our children from facing any consequences for their wrong doings. Instead we decided it reflected badly on us and lived in denial that our children could actually do wrong. Some hired attorneys (barristers) to keep their young from facing any punishments whatsoever and threatened schools with lawsuits if they did not look the other way. Others found ways to raise a fuss and threaten the job security of those who would seek to punish our children. When we have actually gotten up the courage to implement discipline, we have gone overboard with a zero tolerance approach. Then the young child with a butter knife in his book bag gets arrested and treated like a criminal. What sort of message do we send young people when there are either no consequences for actions or the law has become ridiculous and irrelevant.
What is fueling the mess that suggests we could see our cities in America react the same way? Well, class warfare for starters. We are pitting the poor against the rich all the time in the media and it starts in the mouths of political leaders. To suggest that one class is wicked and oppressing the other, that another class is a burden to society and dragging us down… leads to one group hating the other. An entitlement mentality is another fuel in this fire. When leaders of various organizations are constantly telling people what they deserve and ought to have, and it is things that they are lacking, we create not only a hunger for that, but a rage that we cannot control. It is shocking that we are seeing leaders of organizations here in the states calling for young people to rise up and revolt. So we not only start the fire, we throw fuel on it as well. In the end, if things don’t change very soon, we could see this great nation go up in smoke.
Archbishop Rowan Williams, whose views are rarely mine, spoke up in the house of Lords to criticize the school system for for “abandoning its duty to teach children “virtue, character and citizenship”.” He goes on to suggest that the need exists not only to rebuild parenting skills in communities but to rebuild the education system itself. (The Telegraph, 12 August) I would add that the church is sitting in a place of prime opportunity to contribute significantly to the need for raising a generation of citizens who will build a great nation rather than tear one down. It is undeniable that Britain has been a great nation whose influence on the world, both positive and negative, has been profound. It’s contributions to the world we live in us undeniable and yet it faces the prospect of throwing all that away in a single generation if the systems do not change. America is like it in these respects. The church though has the opportunity to influence a community, to motivate people, to capture the minds of all the generations in such a way that inspires them to do something rather rapidly about the generation that is at such great risk. In the congregation filled with older people, the challenge is to build character, teach virtues, and form citizens out of grandchildren. In a congregation with all ages represented, the opportunity is to affect the young people as much as those who are directly raising them. However, the church today is at risk of attempting social change without gospel transformation. By that I mean that some churches are seeking to affect society without themselves being affected by the gospel of Jesus. Such a plan is dead in the water. Only the grace and truth of God will mold hearts and bring the sort of love that leads to genuine transformation. Only the power of God and his word will transform individuals and therefore societies as a whole.
Only God knows if the church will respond to this great opportunity.
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