The State of the UPC

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by noeticknight

Hi MissB!

When you drew a link between a younger generation of men and a growing resistance to “waffling and inconsistency” in their elders, I couldn’t help but think of billionaire Marc Zuckerberg’s recent statement “young people are just smarter.” Are they? Maybe. Many researchers think there's a connection, and I think you’re on to something.

When I mentioned the Flynn Effect, I was impying a correlation between some of the elements in Flynn's studies with the observations noted in your statement. Put simply, today’s fast-moving, ever changing environment, increased competition in academics, and overall more complex technologies pressuring our young generation, could in fact be responsible for the increased level of scrutiny with “old time religion.” Maybe it’s access to more information. Maybe it’s better nutrition or better genetics. Maybe it’s a little of everything. Whatever it is, it's definitely increasing the gap between the 'ole school crowd and the up and coming "young bucks."

Okay, I get it now. Well, I do agree that kids are getting smarter with every generation. However, I think the idea that young people will latch on to extreme positions easier than older people is an old phenomenon. It goes along with struggling to find an identity. The ability to compromise one's views in deference to another comes with age and maturity. As a young person, this seems impossible since it would require a perceived sacrifice of integrity and principle.

Not a foolproof theory here...just trying to flesh out why more young men would be attracted to the ultra-con camp than the UPCI. It could also be that younger men may actually need tougher boundaries than mature men who have developed self-control and self-discipline, so maybe that's a factor, too?

btw, Coon's original question had to do with why more young preachers are showing up at WPF and UC meetings than getting licensed with the UPCI or other more liberal groups. So are they analyzing the moderate/liberal groups and finding them somehow wanting?

Originally Posted by Coonskinner

I see a higher percentage of young preachers at the more conservative meetings than I do the general UPC events.

I think the higher degree of respect and esteem for the ministry that tends to be found among this segment of our movement is at least partially responsible for this....

Originally Posted by aegsm76

Good to see the old timers back and posting.
I would agree with the assumption that I see more young preachers around the WPF events than the UPCI events. ...

Originally Posted by Coonskinner

What do you attribute that higher percentage to?