Why does it seem as if when moral issues are brought up someone, somewhere makes the comment, "It is not the 1950's" or "Get out of your 1950's mindset."? What is up with this? What is it about the 1950's that bothers people of today? I mean it isn't like there wasn't sin then, or babies weren't being born out of wedlock or divorce or racism or theft or murder didn't exist, because they did. People sinned then, also.
So, what is it about the 1950's that bothers people. Is it the way they perceive it or is it because we are looking at it with 1960's and beyond shades?
So, looking at that time and prior to the 1950's, family was valued. Families enjoyed meals together. They would discuss life and morals during family meals. They fellowshipped with each other at that time and since they didn't go out to eat as much I would imagine they ate healthier.
Morals and family values then, we see, were held at a higher level. There is a definite attack on family today. In the 1950's the divorce rate was at 15%. Was that because everything was good and great in a family. No. People still sinned and argued and even had children out of wedlock, so why was the divorce rate lower. Perhaps at that time people took the idea of a covenant much higher dthan they do today. Vows were made. Promises to be kept, through it all and in the end they could say they made it. They fought the good fight and they grew in love of each other. Unconditional love. Today, our divorce rate is 50%, thanks to
no-fault divorce. I certainly don't want to throw any stones at anyone and I am in constant prayer over my own family because this statistic can be frightening. I love my family and want it to last. I love seeing the little old man and woman who say their marriage lasted many years and they are still together. They are my heroes.
So, do people like to attack this time period because of the divorce rate of today and it is a reminder to them of their own divorce and a feeling of being inferior in a sense of not being able to live up to the ideal of that time period. My grandparents divorced in the 1940's. It was a very tragical thing to happen to my father and his siblings. My grandmother ended up homeless and her kids taken away. We can look at today and be grateful that we do have help for women who find themselves in such situation, where as then they did not.
In the 1950's 75% of Catholics went to mass, today it is down to 25-30%. That is a frightening statistic. It has been slowly on the decline. Some may say this is due to the sex abuse scandals but I believe there is more to it than that. I am also sure that there are some who would blame Vatican II.
I think there is more to it than that also.
Since the 1960's and actually for some people prior to the 1960's, there has been a decline in morals. As I said, I don't believe the 1950's were all rosey and perfect because people have sinned since the snake snuck up on Eve back in the Garden of Eden. There were definite moral issues in the 50's also. So, why the decline in mass attendance. Maybe partly the sex abuse scandals, maybe some of Vatican II but also because people are choosing to follow the culture of death and free sex that increased at horrible rates in the 1960's.
Many question what happened in the 1960's to bring on such a sexual revolution.
Perhaps it was the birth control pill. This opened the door for free sex without worry about pregnancy. Of course Pope Paul VI warned us what would happen if contraception was made available. Definitely seeing this come true.
1. Contraception would lead to conjugal infidelity
More reasons for marital affairs without worry of pregnancy.
2. Contraceptive practice would lead to a “general lowering of morality.”
Sex has become free and easy and there is a definite increase in sexually oriented jokes, television shows, media and more
3. Contraception would lead men to cease respecting woman in their totality and would cause men to treat women as “mere instruments of selfish enjoyment” rather than as cherished partners.
Pornography is a multibillion dollar business today and because of the way it has caused men to view women, women are seen as objects for sexual self gratification.
4. And finally, widespread acceptance of contraception by couples would lead to a massive imposition of contraception by unscrupulous governments.
China among other countries force women to take contraception against their will.
Also, some say maybe it was penicillin. No more fear of sexual diseases.
Anti-establishment became very prevalent after the 1950's. There was a rebellion against authority. Whereas the man of the 1940's felt a duty to his country and a loyalty to his commander, the man of the 1960's felt no duty or loyalty and thus this has increased in prevalence ever since. True, we don't see hippies on street corners today playing guitars and smoking pot but there is a "what is in it for me?" or "I can do whatever I want and I don't want anyone telling me what to do."
If they look at the 1950's and before there was a respect for authority that bothers them.
One of the biggest issues usually brought up when one mentions the 1950's is the housewife. The homemaker. Women generally stayed at home, took care of the house, the cleaning, the meals and the husband and kids. It was very important to her. Family again was the most important thing to her. Until... Until she was told that it was not important and she needed to step out of the domestic humdrum and get a job and have a life of her own, find herself is what they used to say, so many women walked away from their families in the years following the 1950's and today if you don't have a career you are still looked down on as someone who hasn't got a brain. Women walked away from their families, so again looking back perhaps is a reminder of what women should be but don't want to be doing.
I think for me when I hear people say, you can't go back or time has moved on, I think, I know you can't go back but we can bring some of that forward. We can bring back family values, mom in the home, lasting marriages, respect for authority, sexual purity, returning to going to Mass on Sundays.
When the 1950's is brought up in a conversation as a point of reference for a moral compass, I remind myself it is not the time period they have a problem with but the values. It is still a rebellion against goodness, and family and choosing what is right. It is an attack on right from the wrong, an attack on what God calls us to do. If it was right then, it is still right now.
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