Down through time, there have been significant eras. There were the dark ages, the time after Rome fell. There was the time of enlightenment, when people started to read and understand that which the Catholic Church kept hidden. Then of course, the middle ages, the part betwixt and between.
Then, of course there was the industrial revolution. It was a time when people started leaving the farms to work in factories. If you want to go farther back in time, we have the rock age, the bronze age and the iron age. I suppose there might have been a glass age, but I don’t recall any. None-the-less, glass did change things. It permits us to look through walls without permitting the wind and insects in. That is kind of important too.
I think, if I had the where-with-all of naming an age, I would call the time of the 1960s through the 1980s, the time of reversals. Perhaps it might be called the time of change, but I would say that reversals more accurately describes it.
You see, many things reversed in that time. They didn’t just change; they reversed. Such as what, you ask?
Well, let’s start with gambling. In 1960, about the only place a person could legally gamble in this country was Nevada. If my memory serves me right, all other states made it illegal except on the horse and dog race tracks. In New York, many played the “numbers,” but it wasn’t legal. Many were put in jail for it.
Then one day, they started opening legal gambling here and there. The numbers became the lotto and now it is legal to bet on almost anything anywhere. At first, it was by trickle. I believe NY, NY was about the first to allow the lotto. It was “to support the schools only.” Well that didn’t last long. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect the schools don’t get any of the lotto money anymore. If they do, it is nothing more than a pretense.
It seems, invariably, almost anything will be permitted for the benefit of education, even if it isn’t. I don’t know who it was that said it, but it was said well. “When they start saying it’s for the kids, grab hold of your wallet.” (Or was it pocket book) Regardless, in the name of education, we have permitted a lot and we will very likely add to it in the future.
In 1960, there were no topless places, none. As for what is permitted now… I won’t even go there. I will say, that by 1990, almost all the restrictions were removed from that area of morality.
In 1960, the killing of babies before they were born was done only illegally. If a woman wanted that sort of thing, it was generally only done by doctors who had lost their licenses or by someone who had learned from someone else. Some had brought up the subject, but it would quickly get quashed. It was a subject to avoid. Certainly, it was not discussed on the 6 O’clock news where the kids could hear.
Now, at one time, they have actually considered killing babies after they are born. I suspect, behind closed doors, it was discussed far more.
It was indeed a time of reversal. Only those without morals, those without God that would consider it progress. Indeed, I’d say, we have taken a few giant steps back. I believe I have that on good authority. It isn’t so much that God agrees with me. I would suspect it is more that I agree with Him.
Perhaps one of the worst part of it all is that, nowadays, all of this new morality is taught in schools and if we complain, we get our names added to some list somewhere.
bfrhodes99 