PREFACE: I wrote the following and e-mailed it to friends and family back on January 21, 2008. A lot has changed since January. The credit and housing crises have become something that the President addresses almost every morning and the impacts have been felt by nearly every American.
I love this country but it disturbs be greatly to see what is happening to her. I post this now not to say, "I told you so.." but to simply give people something to consider.
January 21, 2008
I went to Drudge this morning and the headline read, "Good Thing It's a Holiday". India's stock index down 7.4 percent, Hong Kong's down 5.5%, its biggest drop since the 9/11 attacks.
"Black Monday as biggest crash since 9/11 wipes off nearly $120 billion in shares"
"London panics..."
The Dow is down some 9% this year and that might not be SO bad, but - this is January!
I want to go ahead and share something that I've considered for many years now. It's not scientific, it's not Biblical, it's just a gut feeling I've had for probably about 10 years.
Tom Brokaw labeled the generation that fought World War II "The Greatest Generation". These folks built America into the sole superpower she is today. They went off to war and into the factories and after it was over, they formed an America we are still reaping benefits from today. Selfishness is not something they were known for. They weren't perfect, but their lives form a stark contrast to those of their children.
Cal Thomas in a recent article referred to the Baby Boomers, those children born just after WWII as "the most-pampered generation". These folks brought us the hippie movement, the feminist movement, a thorough rebellion against all authority - and abortion on demand.
I have thought for years that God in his providence might allow the Greatest Generation to live out their years in relative peace and prosperity. That generation is dying off very quickly now and I know that for all of my 42 years, life in America really couldn't have been a whole lot better. I also thought that once they were gone, God would begin to deal with the Boomers in ways that would prevent them from enjoying their "golden years", their retirement.
Well, do you know what coincides with one of the worst Januarys in memory in regards to the stock markets? This month, January 2008, the first Boomers begin retiring. BAM! To quote Bono from a U2 song, "...hit where it hurts...silver and gold".
Scripture tells us that God is allowing the wheat and the tares (weeds) to grow up together and then He will separate them at his coming. I don't know that God has specific plans to confuse or disrupt the plans of the Boomers, but it certainly would be fitting. Unlike me, God is merciful and he causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. We call this grace and it is truly amazing.
I am not saying that the entire Boomer generation was corrupt for some excellent people were certainly born between 1946 and 1964, but I'm sure some pretty good folks had to walk with Israel in the wilderness for 40 years too.
We consider what Hitler's Third Reich did to some 6 million Jews horrific and yet those who stand for the rights of 50 million unborn dead can scarcely get a seat at the table at conservative political conventions.
The self-indulgent '60s and '70s culminated in a Supreme Court decision that has to date destroyed some 50 million of our fellow Americans thanks to Roe v. Wade. As Cal Thomas states:
Abortion on demand cannot be seen in isolation from social breakdown. In 1973, near the end of the Vietnam War and the approaching resignation of President Nixon two years later, the focus on self, pleasure and convenience by Baby Boomers was at its height. Marriages easily dissolved as "no fault" divorce laws were passed; cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births were on the rise; "unwanted babies" (who were labeled "products of conception" to make it easier to deny the obvious) became an impediment to the pursuit of pleasure and material gain.
Abortion was not a cause, but a reflection of
our decadence
and deviancy. One does not begin to kill babies until other dominos
have
fallen. And once they have fallen, it becomes difficult to set them
aright
because to do so would require an admission of something so horrible
that those
responsible for this fetal holocaust would have to acknowledge their
sin and
repent of it. Such a thing is not a character trait of this most
pampered
generation.
Perhaps the generation we destroyed through abortion would have been
America's greatest. Perhaps, but we'll never know. Maybe one of those kids held in his or her brain the
cure for cancer, or AIDS, or even economic recessions. Regardless of their potential contributions to
society, all 50 million were image bearers of the Living God. Can we mess with God's handiwork with
impunity forever?
So far, and it's still early in 2008, my theory about how things play out for the Boomers is right on track. At least in my realistic/pessimistic view, the America that lies ahead is certainly not as bright as the America that was. When a shining city on a hill is soaked in blood, it really loses its luster.
The Cost of Roe at 35 - by Cal Thomas
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2008/01/17/the_cost_of_roe_at_35
Boomers Turning 62 and Starting to Retire [LINK EXPIRED NOW]
http://www.thebusinessledger.com/Home/Archives/CommentaryViewpoints/tabid/86/newsid415/181/Default.aspx
