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As Christianity fades, so does societal structures

posted a year ago by Ticketsplease (4024)
85 replies | jump to latest

1950s culture was the following:

Get married young
Have children whose parents are legally wed
Work Monday-Friday, keep Saturday free and make Sunday religious with a church visit and family meal

Society had a structure, basically built around Christian morals and obligations.

The 1960s saw the start of this being chipped away at.

Marriage started to decline, children born out of wedlock increased, particularly in the black community.

The weekend got chipped away at as well, as retail trading hours increased, eventually seeing Sunday trading becoming common place, pushing more people out of the home and into their job.

As working hours spread over basically a 7 day roster, families become more fragmented.

The Sunday gatherings become less doable.

The homosexuals further chipped away with the notion of marriage as well, saying that they can refine the union to have no biological structure at all.

Now marriage is not based on a biological union.

Weddings are just a big "let's make it official" party, often with offspring in attendance.

Add quick, no fault divorce to the proposition, and legacy rules like men having to pay "spousal support" to a cheating wife, and the proposition is less and less appealing, especially to men.

Now we have ended up with younger generations who either don't want to get married and have kids, or simply can't afford to, given the emphasis on economic growth instead of societal protectionism.

I argue that Christianity didn't create social confines, more like social structure, and strength, allowing people to blossom.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

they tried to fix something that wasn't broken, now the worlds a mess.

[–] ClementinaSpur (1335) a year ago

Well-said and so true.

[–] rex (2808) a year ago

[deleted]

[–] [deleted] a year ago

jimmy swaggart and jim bakker agrees.

[–] AmeriGirl26 (15113) a year ago

Anyone who thinks Christianity is "confining," because it wouldn't let people sleep around, have sex with anyone they wanted, do drugs, hurt other people, etc, buys into the myths the enemies of Christianity have been perpetuating for centuries, and now with internet, it's become way too easy to push those myths forward.

[–] Skavau (15993) a year ago

No reason to believe any of this being "chipped away" somehow destroys society.

[–] Kowalski (79128) a year ago

DUDE...NOBODY LIKES YOU OR YOUR SHIT-STIRRING POSTS...JUST STOP ALREADY.

[–] Ticketsplease (4024) a year ago

Please refer to:

[–] ClementinaSpur (698) an hour ago
Well-said and so true

[–] Kowalski (79128) a year ago

THE MINDLESS MORONS DON'T COUNT...WE ALREADY KNOW YOU ARE REAL GOOD AT RILING THEM UP.

[–] ClementinaSpur (1335) a year ago

Kowalski said:

THE MINDLESS MORONS DON'T COUNT...WE ALREADY KNOW YOU ARE REAL GOOD AT RILING THEM UP.

Kowalski is:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3KhHIUF5Nb0

[–] Kowalski (79128) a year ago

HALF A JOKE...KOWALSKI™️ DOES NOT CLICK ON LINKS PROVIDED BY WEIRDOS WHO PRAISE TICKETSPLEASE AND HIS BULLSHIT TROLL POSTS.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

Marriage started to decline, children born out of wedlock increased, particularly in the black community.

And yet the church is still very strong in the black community, moreso than among whites. So that destroys your theory right there.

Also, 1950's America was very secular. Look at 1950's tv and movies as an example. There's almost no mention of religion.

Do they ever go to church in "Leave it to Beaver" or "I Love Lucy"? Was Elvis Christian? There's no Christianity in 1950's media culture.

[–] ClementinaSpur (1335) a year ago

Also, 1950's America was very secular.

https://today.usc.edu/the-1950s-powerful-years-for-religion/

"On a typical Sunday morning in the period from 1955-58, almost half of all Americans were attending church – the highest percentage in U.S. history. During the 1950s, nationwide church membership grew at a faster rate than the population, from 57 percent of the U.S. population in 1950 to 63.3 percent in 1960."

[–] Kowalski (79128) a year ago

GOING TO CHURCH AND BEING "RELIGIOUS"...ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.

[–] chilone (18328) a year ago

Being "religious" and having faith are two very different things.

[–] Moonglum9 (11340) a year ago

"Having faith" and having a tasty bowl of chicken soup are two very different things. Mmmmmm...Chicken soup!

[–] chilone (18328) a year ago

I have faith in chicken soup!

[–] Moonglum9 (11340) a year ago

It cured me better than any faith healer ever done did! Jesus would have been better to have that as his blood than yucky ole wine.

[–] BeaSouth (3563) a year ago

When you’re landing at midnight in rough bumpy weather and the lights flicker in the airplane cabin you should try the flight attendant call button to order yourself up a bowl of Campbell’s

[–] Moonglum9 (11340) a year ago

It would be just as effective as a prayer, I suspect. And much more tasty!

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

Americans have always been majority Christian. But few people were Bible thumpers.

But the OP's premise is all wrong. The 1950's were all about modernization and rejection of tradition. It was the rise of the suburban middle class, nothing like the OP's description.

Again, where in mainstream tv and movies from that era do you find anything about religion? It was a secular time.

Funny how he attacks blacks and yet they are the most Christian segment of American society now.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

religion was much less politicized back then. that changed under reagan in the eighties.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

My parents were nominally Christian. But we never went to church and it wasn't talked about much. That was middle class suburban America when I was growing up. The OP has some fantasy which bears little resemblance to reality.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

my parents went to church up until the 1970s. they were going through the motions. neither of them were religious and they didn't care if their kids went. they were more interested in educating their kids.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

That's my experience as well. I mean yeah my parents would be apoplectic if I told them I was an atheist. But most Americans are practical people and are more concerned about education and having a good job.

I'm sure pre-World War II America was more religious. But for the OP to claim post war America was doctrinal Christian? That's bullshit. After the war this became a primarily secular society.

[–] BillySlater (4285) a year ago

Blacks have had the largest shift away from religion in the last 12 years according to research from the pew center. So saying they are the most Christian group doesn't really tell the full story.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/february/black-american-nones-faith-unaffiliation-nothing.html

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

The OP specifies blacks. Your link backs up my statement that they are more affiliated with the church than whites and other groups.

African Americans are among the most devout groups in religion research, often outranking other demographics in areas like religious practice, attendance, and belief.

Even with all the shifts in the faith landscape over the past several years, Black Americans remain more religious than other groups and more likely than the average American to stay in the tradition they were raised in, according to a massive report released by Pew Research Center last year.

[–] BillySlater (4285) a year ago

"Marriage started to decline, children born out of wedlock increased, particularly in the black community."

He's not wrong. Many blacks are CINOs (Christians in name only) like whites. If majority blacks were truly Christians like they claim, you would see a reflection of that in their societal structures, having kids in wedlock, not having abortions etc etc. Black women have the highest abortion rates of any racial group in the US but you probably think they're Christian because they attend church right?

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

So it sounds like you agree with me that the OP is wrong. Blacks are more "Christian" than whites, so going to church and being Christian really has not helped black folks have more "morals and obligations". Christianity sounds rather irrelevant, especially since media and culture in the 50's was rather secular.

[–] Ticketsplease (4024) a year ago

Blacks probably go more to church more given their sins needing more forgiveness.

[–] VinceD (10408) a year ago

Thank you for posting this comment.

I was going to write a polite and well-thought out reply to your initial argument, but you just confirmed you have no interest in any real conversation.

[–] Kowalski (79128) a year ago

🫤

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Could you list those sins here?

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

It's the curse of Cain, my friend. The curse of Cain.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

Now wait a minute, Elvis was very much Christian. He may not have pushed it like a fanatical preacher or anything, but he was a Christian.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

I'm sure he was. But that wasn't his 50's persona.

[–] Furienna (3377) a year ago

Well, Elvis did release his first record with Gospel music, "Peace ln The Valley", already in 1957.
So he might have been less squeaky clean than the parents of his fans would have liked, but he was a Christian.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

That's right. I forgot about his southern gospel connection.

Still, didn't preachers condemn his performances as obscene, the shaking hips and all that? He was controversial at the time.

[–] Furienna (3377) a year ago

He was indeed controversial, but he was more complex than the moral guardians thought.

[–] OnanTheBarbarian (13173) a year ago

And they said the same thing about Elvis and rock n' roll and popular culture which the OP is saying now.