A recent study by Pew Research indicates that Generation Z, those born after 1996, are far more liberal than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, and slightly more liberal than the Millennial generation. They believe in more government control, same sex marriage, gender neutrality, climate change, living together, having children out of wedlock, and that the United States is not the best country in the world. Even more pronounced is that Gen Zers who identify as Republican or leaning Republican starkly contrast with Generation X and Baby Boomer Republicans on political issues. Generation Z is far more liberal than their predecessors. Interesting, there is little difference between the generations identifying as Democrats.
Pew reports, "Among Republicans and those who lean to the Republican Party, the generational divides are even starker. Roughly half (52%) of Gen Z Republicans say they think the government should be doing more to solve problems, compared with 38% of Millennial Republicans and 29% of Gen Xers. About a quarter of Republican Baby Boomers (23%) and fewer GOP Silents [those born between 1938-45] (12%) believe the government should be doing more. Among Democrats, however, these generational divides largely disappear. Roughly eight-in-ten Gen Z (81%) and Millennial Democrats (79%) say the government should do more to solve problems, as do about seven-in-ten Democratic Gen Xers, Boomers and Silents."
Aside from attending Ashland University on a football scholarship (2010-14), our son Christian was also a four-year academic scholar of the prestigious Ashbrook Center, which "seeks to restore and strengthen the capacities of the American people for constitutional self-government." We recently received a letter from the new director of the Ashbrook program. Chris Flannery wrote: "Democracy requires more of its citizens than any other form of government. It depends on the capacity of the citizens to govern themselves. But the habits and dispositions of self-government are difficult to acquire and to sustain. They are rooted in moral and political principles in which each new generation must be educated. It is no accident that history provides so few examples of successful and enduring democracies."
Flannery continues: "It is true that our schools and colleges have been failing for many years to teach American history and government adequately. This is a very serious and important failure." We can see from the Pew Research report where our country is heading in the future. It is a direction where the majority lacks godly moral and political principles. We can point to the public school system for this, but ultimately the blame rests on parents. Parents have responsibility for their children's upbringing. Parents also have choices regarding education and local input over public schools.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Parents must be strong in this because even so, their children will be influenced by those who have gone the way of the world. We all must do better for our kids.
