Positive Trends and America

I found this article encouraging. It documents a change in American social conditions which we should all be thankful for, such as a huge drop in domestic violence, alcohol related car fatalities, and violence by teens. The author proposes a set of four reasons for the shift:

"The first thing that has happened is that people have stopped believing in stupid ideas: that the traditional family is obsolete, that drugs are liberating, that it is every adolescent's social duty to be a rebel.

The second thing that has happened is that many Americans have become better parents. Time diary studies reveal that parents now spend more time actively engaged with kids, even though both parents are more likely to work outside the home.

Third, many people in the younger generation, under age 30 or so, are reacting against the culture of divorce. They are trying to lead lives that are more stable than the ones their parents led. Post-boomers behave better than the baby boomers did.

Fourth, over the past few decades, neighborhood and charitable groups [Read Churches] have emerged to help people lead more organized lives, even in the absence of cohesive families."

In his book "Theology for the Community of God" Stanley Gretz paints salvation as a communal experience. Our choices are never made in a vacuum; we bring Jesus to one another. God has made our world, not for you and I individually, but for the community of God that will exist forever. The image Jesus often uses of heaven is a banquet or marriage, not a walk alone with God. Some day I will rant about "The Me Generation" and their propensity to make erratic choices at the cost of their neighbors and children (among other shameful things). But for now it is good to focus on news that our world maybe reflecting Heaven a bit more.