Why the Past is Seen as Better
 

I posted this in Deep Waters and no one responded. I thought I might get better results here....

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I have noticed a thread throughout Christianity in general (please no one turn this into a UPC/Non-UPC thread!) that older is better. As usual, I am again reading an Amish book (Born Amish). I think the reason that the Amish intrigue me so much is that they not only give us permission to go against the grain of modern (read: not always better) society, but that we can learn so much in comparing Amish society against modern American society in that the Amish have a strong sense of community...the pros and cons to that....and that so much of what seems obviously extreme in Amish society compared to contemporary society is there are smaller more subtle strains in many different areas of Christianity that compare in the same way.

Why the past is seen as better...this is a common theme in larger Christianity everywhere. I want to look at why this is so and the pros and cons and accuracy of it all.

1. Community: In older times, community was indeed stronger. It was also based generally on common goals and values that are Christian in general.
You could trust your neighbor.
You could seal a deal with a handshake.
People didn't divorce all the time.
Families spent time together.
People generally had similar values and thoughts about modesty and what a good citizen was.

This all seems simple and nice and appealing to us as we look at the larger world in general who now:
Cannot trust your neighbor.
Have to seal everything with paperwork and lawyers lest you get taken.
People divorce for frivolous reasons.
Families hardly eat meals together.
Peoples values and thoughts are according to whims, what they learned on TV or are simply ideas pieced together that sound good.

I love the ideals in the first list. They are great goals. Thes are goals common in many Christian societies. Even though I love those goals, I have to look also at the scriptue that asks why we think the former days were better than these and that there is nothing new under the sun.

We hear all the time about why certain standards (again I am NOT talking about UPC standards but Christian standards in general that are supposed to work towards our betterment) are good for us, never really thinking about the flip side. Thinking about the flip side can be dangerous because we certainly don't want to toss away all the values that we hold dear. But it is necessary to look at the flip side in critical thinking.

For all of the benefits, there is a negative. When people have the same values and thoughts about things, new ideas can be squelched. Indeed, new revelations from God can take a backseat to tradition. People fear change. We look around us and see the debauchery and wickeness around us as obvious evidence of negative change.

In our righteous and obvious need to hold on to what is right and good and holy, let's not forget that in our holding tight we could miss the very revelation of God that could open new windows of opportunity for us to see more of God in this world. Sometimes, we need to embrace change as a path for good.

I used the Amish as an example, but Christianity in general carries the belief that the past is better....because of community and morality. For example, I was told of a Christian woman who could use the money that she could not work outside the home because it was her Christian duty to stay home. This is an evangelical person. Now, I think we all agree that a vastly career-oriented woman who is never home is not good for the family.....but, this seems to be a knee-jerk response to "the old days were better"....this woman could work a small part-time job, take some pressure off the finances and still be there for her family.

I do agree society as a whole has lost the things and settings that made the good ole days. And yes they were good.

I think that over the years, we all have a tendancy to skew the past with a positive spin. I believe forget much of the bad things and remember more of the good things. I don't think we do this on purpose, as it's just the way our brain works! :)

Yes, much of it was good....and I think we all yearn for these things. We focus a lot on what is missing now and how we can, I suppose, basically recapture it. I too want to recapture what we have lost in society. However, I think that people were maybe more flexible about things as well and let people break 'rules' according to need....something that I find lacking in the movement in Christianity to get some of what was lost back. It creates a sad dynamic in that the great energy spent to recapture what was lost it sometimes backfires in that needs are put on the backburner for the sake of idealism or tradition. In the end, some end up losing as much or more than they gained. As Christians, we need to strive to recapture (or continue to hold) basic concepts and principles that are important and valuable without holding those principles and values as more important than human need itself. This is a hard balance to obtain in individuals, much less movements.

I think that is true, but I also think that it is taught that it was a better country back in the 1800's-1900's. And in some ways it was and in some ways it wasn't.

I think a lot of it has to do with selective memory. The good old days weren't always good is a line in a Billy Joel song, but I find it to be true. Just remember that 20 years from now today will be the good old days.

ILG~ I think things were better back then, not just in the Christianity realm but as a world in whole. As a kid we could run around until dark ridding our bikes all day and not worry about strangers, mother's in the neighborhood kept an eye out on the kids, and you knew if you did anything wrong your parents would be informed. We ate at home, dinner was at a set time, going out was a treat, not a way of life. Today kids are kept behind lock doors with the T.V or internet as their company while both parents are at work, most eat fast food on daily basis.

Today we are a throw away people, fast moving running around never going anywhere, we consume and we are unfit and unhealthy, we no longer have the freedoms of yesterday in this counrty~

I posted this before on NFCF, but there is a great story concerning the Steinway piano.

Henry Steinway is now 91 years old, and was once the president and CEO of Steinway.

He tells the story that when he was just a lad in the 1920's, he heard folks say that Steinway pianos were made better in the late 1800's.

When he become president around 1950, folks were saying that Steinways made in the 1920's were the best.

When he sold the company in 1980s, folks were saying that the 1950's era Steinways were the best!

In each case it was the 30 years before current time that things were at their best!

The truth is that today's Steinways are the best because they use modern technology to make them even more precise in manufacturing. They are still hand made, but they are constantly coming up with new and better ways to build them.

I still hear folks say that the old Steinways are better than the new ones! :lol