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April - June 2008 issue of Vertical Thought |
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Vertical News — May 2008
Greetings vertical thinkers,
This year marks 40 years since 1968, a key turning point year that
some consider the beginning of our era.
Like you are now, I was then a young vertical thinker. I was halfway
through high school, living and working on our family ranch in western
South Dakota. While doing my morning or afternoon chores or driving
tractor in our fields, I remember thinking about the national and world
events as the year unfolded. I was trying to see those things as God
saw them.
Look at this list of critical events of 1968:
- January—Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War when North Vietnamese
forces nearly overran U.S. and allied forces. Although they lost the
battle, they, aided by the mass media, won the war, first in world
opinion and then by breaking America's will to win.
- April—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. He had
been one of the leaders in speaking out against racial discrimination.
- Terrible race riots followed, accompanied by antiwar riots by students
of many American universities.
- May—Student and worker riots broke out in Paris. The "antiestablishment" mood
had spread.
- June—Robert F. Kennedy, brother of assassinated U.S. President
John F. Kennedy, was assassinated himself while campaigning for president.
- August—Soviet forces smashed an anticommunist movement in
Czechoslovakia. In the United States, the Democratic National Convention
faced constant riots and demonstrations launched primarily by young
people against the war, against authority and against traditional
morality.
- October—Mexican authorities shot several hundred student demonstrators
just a few days before the Olympics in Mexico City.
Now consider the society-changing trends and movements that gained
great momentum during the year:
- Hippie movement—young people openly committing sexual immorality
and using copious amounts of mood-altering drugs.
- Sexual revolution—the popularizing of sexual immorality of
every sort under the label of "free love."
- Drug revolution—the popularizing of the common use of hallucinogenic
and mood-altering drugs.
- Feminist movement—the championing of the advancement of women
even at the expense of the family and morality.
- Occult explosion—the popularizing of witchcraft and all its
trappings.
What was a young person to think about such a cultural revolution bent
on institutionalizing the attitude of rebellion against the standards
of the God of the Bible?
How do you live and think vertically—about God and His ways—in
the middle of a youthful society seeking lust, anger, resistance and
destruction?
Of course, you live in such a society still. The contrast is not so
clear today because the movements of 1968 are now the norm, and the
attitude of the age is in fact institutionalized. Premarital sex, every
other sort of sexual immorality, drug use, flagrant immodesty in dress
and behavior and the spirit of anger and rebellion are the routine.
But beware—they are also the temptations lurking to pull you
down.
The slogans of the 1968 "drop out generation" include: "Question
authority." "Teachers: you are old…and so is your culture." And, "To
live without dead time and to enjoy without restraint."
The last slogan is most telling. It is essentially saying: Don't bore
me, and let me do what I want—now! That focus on "I," "me" and
pleasure above all is the typical summary of that year. It gave rise
to the ME generation of the 1970s. But selfishness does not make one
happy.
With the "enjoy without restraint" statement echoing in your
mind, let me share a proverb from God that I learned then.
"Where there is no revelation [or vision], the people cast off
restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law" (Proverbs 29:18).
The hippies, student demonstrators and other angry and misguided youth
of the 1960s around the world had a very foggy vision—one not
from God—so they cast off restraint and gave in to their lusts
and wrong desires.
Vertical Thought magazine strives to help you understand the revelation
of God's truth. Its purpose is to help you form a clear vision of God's plan
for you and for the whole world. It seeks to encourage you to live with the
divine restraint of good character.
Our online weekly Vertical Thought commentaries provide regular,
incisive analysis of events and trends in your world. Written by a dedicated
team of young adult vertical thinkers, these commentaries are designed
to help us see things, events and trends as God sees them.
As a teen on the ranch, I would have loved to have had access to such
writing by those who also seek to follow the true God of the Bible and
His way of life. The youth of 1968 had a cause that they followed with
energy for doing wrong. You have an infinitely greater cause today—God's!
Follow faithfully; think vertically.
Be sure to read the new article we've added to our Web site: "Overcoming
Shyness" by Carol Taylor. Even if you aren't shy, it has
some great tips on how to be a better friend.
Randy Stiver
Vertical Thought staff
Read the weekly VT Commentaries about issues that directly affect you.
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