Why can't America be like it was before?

[VCR-2000]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

 

[Caliban]

it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning.

This is just silly. Who are the supposed "bad guys"? When you look at the world through a fundamentalist lens, it does appear to be good guys (gods elect) vs. the bad guys (secularists). Maybe we are all just humans trying to figure out how to live among each other in a complicated world. I personally hold no supernatural beliefs and do not think human decisions should be based on old religions or the interpretations of religious texts by other humans. It is absurd to me that some dude reads a religious text and thinks his (maybe her) interpretation of it is correct. Oh the hubris.

Maybe if you stopped seeing others as the bad guys, you might sit down with them in conversation and have an honest empathetic discussion without preconceptions.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

The fact is that you were born in the wintertime, to use Spengler's term, of Western Civilization. Accept that and make the best of your life in this age with all its decadence, for that you cannot control.

You can look at the hand that history has dealt you as a challenge, rather than a curse. It won't last forever. Nothing of this world ever does. Figure out what you can do to leave something for a future, saner time, which being in your 20's you may yet live to see, someday.

 

[Caliban]

The fact is that you were born in the wintertime, to use Spengler's term, of Western Civilization. Accept that and make the best of your life in this age with all its decadence, for that you cannot control.

You can look at the hand that history has dealt you as a challenge, rather than a curse. It won't last forever. Nothing of this world ever does. Figure out what you can do to leave something for a future, saner time, which being in your 20's you may yet live to see, someday.

What is so "insane" about "this time" that did not exist before?

 

[wing2000]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

How do you imagine America was before?

 

[GoldenBoy89]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

I think, depending on your perspective, things were actually much worse in the past. No one gets to choose the time and place they’re born but if I had a choice I’d stay in the 21st century.

 

[Rescued One]

How do you imagine America was before?

It was more tolerant of Christianity and there was less violence (except for racism in the deep south.)

 

[VCR-2000]

This is just silly. Who are the supposed "bad guys"? When you look at the world through a fundamentalist lens, it does appear to be good guys (gods elect) vs. the bad guys (secularists). Maybe we are all just humans trying to figure out how to live among each other in a complicated world. I personally hold no supernatural beliefs and do not think human decisions should be based on old religions or the interpretations of religious texts by other humans. It is absurd to me that some dude reads a religious text and thinks his (maybe her) interpretation of it is correct. Oh the hubris.

Maybe if you stopped seeing others as the bad guys, you might sit down with them in conversation and have an honest empathetic discussion without preconceptions.

Not that I'm necessarily a fundamentalist.

 

[Nithavela]

I think, depending on your perspective, things were actually much worse in the past. No one gets to choose the time and place they’re born but if I had a choice I’d stay in the 21st century.

24th century for me, please.

 

[klutedavid]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

Personally, I think the best decades were the fifties to the nineties. Before the fifties, life was much tougher and they had a depression and two great wars.

In the nineties, the world started to become a very serious place. What with global warming, increasing economic competition, prices of resources climbing. Add to that, loss of job security, too many countries developing nuclear weapons, e.t.c.

Before the fifties and after the nineties, you are correct, life is much tougher and sharper now. I pity the children growing up during the last two decades. They have a very difficult future ahead of them now. There is just far too many people on this planet now, and everything is starting to fall apart.

 

[Desk trauma]

It was more tolerant of Christianity and there was less violence (except for racism in the deep south.)

Actually.

 

[MIDutch]

It was more tolerant of Christianity and there was less violence (except for racism in the deep south.)

And much less tolerant of everything else.

As for the racism in the deep south, you obviously were never a Native American in the American West, or Hispanic in soutern states, or an Asian anywhere in the US, or LGBTQ anywhere in the US, or etc., etc., etc..

My observation has been that where the US "was more tolerant of Christianity", it has also generally been more INTOLERANT of everything else.

 

[Richard T]

I used to think that the late 1800s would have been great to live in. Until I remembered that there were no antibiotics back then.

In reality, it is best to accept and thank God for what He has given. The key is to find your purpose in the world now. Every person is important in the body of Christ, and the fact is, we need you here now. I hope you can get a vision of what you are to do and be and forget all the bad things going on etc.
Ps 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

 

[eleos1954]

What is so "insane" about "this time" that did not exist before?

This is true ... and so it says in His word.

Ecclesiastes 1

9What has been will be again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there a case where one can say,

“Look, this is new”?

 

[ArmenianJohn]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

Every person from every generation can lament that they were born into a lifespan of horrible years. There are constantly changes that range from easy to difficult with low to high impacts and for the better or worse.

It''s not unusual that you or anyone would lament their position in life as you each see it. But the reality is that everybody's life is full of changes and calamities and blessings unique to that time period.

You're no worse or better off than most generations; in a lot of ways you are way, way better off than all previous generations. What opportunities you have are amazing compared to the limited ones we had in earlier generations.

I realize you're an agnostic per your label, but if you were to practice gratitude you would quickly realize how luck you are as an individual, regardless of when you're living. You have so much compared to the majority of the world. Focus on those blessings and take advantage of them while you have them - they may be gone tomorrow. And if any are gone tomorrow, it's likely there are different and new blessings to take their place.

But I can't accept the lament of anyone who believes that they are victim of their times because anyone can think that and justify it. It's all in the attitude and mindset - those who take on the victim mindset will be hurt victims for what they lack while those who take on a grateful attitude will be grateful and appreciative for what they do have.

 

[Halbhh]

I have said many times before that i was born too late. I hate the direction modern America and the rest of the Western world is going in. A lot of horrible things are happening today, it's not what America is supposed to be like at all.

Also, it's cruel that God is letting the bad guys keep winning. I know that may not necessarily be how God works, but i have very little faith left in him. I felt that for years. I also don't like that he needs to end the current world and human history so far to be able to fulfil his promises. It's all a cosmic illusion or catch-22. I hate the "end times" but it unfortunately looks like it may well happen within less than 30-50 years and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

I'm in my 20s and i want to live, and i want to see things somehow get back to where they were before instead of all this. If a calamity does come, i hope that humanity as is can be given a second chance or re-do. I hate that this is the only life God allows for us here.

I wish i was born at the same generation as my own parents at the latest.

And i know not all people believe what i mentioned above, but i digress because its still there in some people.

At the end of each summer, reeds are broken, yet that's not the end for their essence, for reeds.

What is past is like dust in the wind, yet also touches eternity and is with us. A moment can be like years. But all years, even 50 or 90 years, are really only a moment, compared to time that lasts.

There's a related song and post just now about this, which may touch on it in a way that helps. I hope:

Free falling

 

[Caliban]

Not that I'm necessarily a fundamentalist.

It sure sounded as if you believed the scriptures were the word of God and the good and bad people are divided by god's people and not god's people. That is a fundamentalist construct. I am not saying you are a fundamentalist like say, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, but that particular statement harks of fundamentalist ideas of duality and moral binary thinking.

 

[Caliban]

This is true ... and so it says in His word.

Ecclesiastes 1

9What has been will be again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10Is there a case where one can say,

“Look, this is new”?

That is not clear at all. It could mean anything. I am not even sure what point you are making with it because it is so vague. Its not your fault, I am sure you have a translation in mind that I don't. Can you elaborate?

 

[eleos1954]

That is not clear at all. It could mean anything. I am not even sure what point you are making with it because it is so vague. Its not your fault, I am sure you have a translation in mind that I don't. Can you elaborate?

so basically what you are saying is .... there is nothing new (ie throughout mankinds history) ...
the verse says the same thing ...

You are saying basically that history (mankinds actions in the past) repeats itself and/or .. nothing new in the history of mankind .... anything that has been done throughout mans history (under the sun) will be done again and there is nothing new.

* all of mankinds history has taken place under the sun.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

24th century for me, please.

Might be good to skip at least a few decades to a couple centuries ahead. Things don’t look great for the near future.