I recently read this article http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/these-two-traps-are-absolutely-destroying-the-next-generation-of-young-men-in-america
Please read it and tell me your thoughts :) Also do you think that what the article is suggesting limits your prospect for finding a guy?
Oh just a fyi. I don't look do the things in this article.. I used to play games a lot but as the Bible says I left the childish things behind when I became an adult :)
Video games and the Internet are certainly problems, but the biggest problem is that the Church has accepted "Nice Guys" as the preferred male form. Boys are taught to be safe, sweet, gentle, passive, harmless, and general pushovers. They cannot lead, do not grow up, are incapable of making decisions, and do not turn into men, no matter how old they get. We are a fearful generation today, and it doesn't do anyone any good.
hmm, I'll copy and paste the link, so you lady's can read in it other post. Then give me your opinions please :) I still haven't got a woman's opinion on the topic and would much enjoy seeing the topic from a woman's perspective.
Tulip89, I agree completely with you on how there are no real men but instead children who pretend to be men, but I do not think it is just the church.. I think it is Societies values being shaped as a whole into wanting the "Demasculinization and feminization of males" To not only be Accepted but longed for... Which is why you see so many male models in submissive roles in Culture and Why "Mister mom" is becoming a more popular term that identifies with today's man.. I don't think this an Accident but I would love to hear what a woman thinks about it.
There is a phase call "Ethos" Which refers to a person's worldview. As Howard Zinn Put it "Our ethos is all that we currently hold to be true. It is what we act upon. It governs our manners, our business and our politics."
Tulip89: If your aware of Sigmund Freud, and Edward Bernays work, then your aware that people's desires can be controlled and their worldview can be changed overtime by manipulated opinion, or "Public Relations". It's done everyday from Ice cream and toys, to men's preference on women and women's preference on men..
As Bernays puts it, You don't make a reasonable debate about why someone should choose this or that.. You simply apply to the "primate inside". You make your case why their be "happier" with someone or something then without it. You make the case to their Emotions -- not their mind.. Which the mind has reasoning and knows Good from wrong but heart doesn't thing -- it reacts and will accept anything. And it determines how a person lives.
"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. ~ Proverbs 4:23"
As for the "nice guys" thing.. It is reasonable to have that as a reference in one's profile. If you look at a woman's profile on here or anywhere. What do you see... You see their love for their families and friends (Many of them have such intimate relationships with their "Girl" friends that they have included them into their idea of Family), how they want a "nice Guy" or a "good man" , and lastly they talk about their love for Church and how that relates to their love for God. Some use Scriptures but most don't...
But back to what my point was in posting this question in the first place. I believe very much so that my purpose comes from my Creator. That his word is absolute and undeniable. When it says in Ephesians 6:12
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
I believe it and over the short years of my life, I have seen evidence of these forces and rules. Who seek to control the hearts of men and women.. So, that they may Elect a man to rule over all of mankind. To word it as some of these rulers have put it "To Elect a God".... Scare stuff.... But never the less, it's a Fact.. That I know it's a fact, that I must fight to change. But as it is Stated in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but we have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,"
So, I know that I am not to wage war with swords or guns... They are powerful and can take life but what God is saying, is my battlefield is a battlefield of Ideas and opinions -- That Ever single idea and opinion not just in my mind but in others -- must obeys Christ and at least knows or heard Truth.
All people have two things in common.. No matter who they are -- They Submit to something or someone, And all have sin.. So they hate the idea of Submission, but God created us to submit to him and ever since our rebellion against him in the Garden.. We have tried to replace him with every idol we could think of... We have even made ourselves into idols in his eyes by putting Gold or silver and markings on our body just like we would decorate an idol or Christmas tree...Which is a big reason why he says not to mark our "Temple" to him. God hates Idols... It's a spit into his face because just like men (who were made in his Image), feel awful even almost a pure rage, when they see The woman of their Dreams walk away.. It horrible, and it's such a hurtful feeling, that words wouldn't do it Justice... But when we make idols -- it causes the same feeling inside God, because It takes all Respect for God away.. And simply says, "I don't need you God" or, "I can worship, Love, or obey something else".
In Leviticus 19:28 it says,
"Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the LORD."
But back to the point made above that -- That manipulated opinion has Changed the opinion of that viewpoint for many.. And that What God said long ago.. No longer Apply's today because of "grace or mercy" have made it somehow okay to still disobey.. He is the God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow -- But his word to some as an expire date. And it's not their fault that they see things that way... but if you look over the generations; over the years, Your see that it's not only that has changed but the appeal changed from God's Standard to Hollywood's standard of shorter, and more revealing clothing. The acceptance of piercings and other things that decades ago was thought and taught as pagan or ungodly acts is now a common thing. So much Change in such a short time and It's seems so hopeless to Change it back to the way God wanted it because how do you Change Ear's trained to reject truth. That don't hear it but rather enjoy the tickle in their ears from the lies and philosophy that they have heard so often.
2 Timothy 2:24-3:5
24 A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. 25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people�s hearts, and they will learn the truth. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from their present state of death. For they have been held captive by Satan to do whatever he wants.
3 You should know this, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred or holy. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good and truthful. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the truth. Which has power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! [They only seek to corrupt the Truth and make you like them.]
Copied from http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/these-two-traps-are-absolutely-destroying-the-next-generation-of-young-men-in-america
These Two Traps Are Absolutely Destroying The Next Generation Of Young Men In America
Have you ever noticed that our young girls seem to be far ahead of our young boys and that our young women seem to be much more "together" than our young men are? Have you ever noticed how many young American men almost seem like zombies and find even the most basic human interactions extremely awkward? Well, this didn't happen by accident. Researchers are finding that there are two traps in particular that are absolutely destroying the next generation of young men in America. One is video game addiction and the other is pornography. In the old days, the parks and ball fields of America would be flooded with young boys after school was done for the day, but now our parks and our ball fields are very quiet. So where did all the boys go? Well, they are all sitting at home staring into computer screens. Yes, there are also young girls and young women that are addicted to these things, but the truth is that these addictions are far more prevalent among young men. Unfortunately, it is not going to be easy to reverse the damage that is being done to the next generation of young men in America, and that is very frightening.
These days, most parents don't consider video game addiction to be a major crisis. Many parents are just glad to have something that will keep their children occupied and out of their hair.
But the truth is that video game addiction is very serious. One study discovered that 88 percent of all Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 play video games, and that approximately four times as many boys are addicted to video games as girls are.
If you are raising boys right now you probably know exactly what I am talking about. Most boys are absolutely obsessed with video games these days.
Trust me, I know.
I was one of them.
When I was a young man I would play video games for endless hours.
I would often spend entire days playing games like Starcraft and John Madden football.
Once in a while I would stay up all night playing video games.
I was really, really good at them but the rest of my life suffered.
Not that there is anything fundamentally wrong with video games. They can be a lot of fun, but when it becomes an addiction that can be extremely damaging.
Today, the average boy spends 13 hours every single week playing video games.
That is an astounding number.
Unfortunately, the second trap that we are going to talk about is almost certainly doing even more damage to our young men.
The Internet has improved our lives in a lot of ways, but one of the very negative things that it has done is that it has unleashed a giant flood of filth into our homes.
Our young men have more access to sexual content than ever before, and this is having some horrific consequences.
The following example comes from a recent Daily Mail article....
A boy of 12 who raped a nine-year-old girl after watching hard-core pornography online was spared jail yesterday as his lawyer warned of a generation of children growing up with a �skewed view� on sex.
The schoolboy, who is now 14, told police he had raped the little girl because he wanted to �feel grown up� after watching porn online.
In a disturbing case that has raised fresh concerns about the sexualisation of children, the teenager had unrestricted access to the web and was able to freely look at sexually explicit material.
Sadly, the United States is the pornography capital of the world. An astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites, and the U.S. produces more pornography than any other nation has in the history of the world.
Many American men are so addicted to it that they cannot even wait to get home to look at it. One survey discovered that 25 percent of all employees that have Internet access in America visit sex websites while they are at work.
In a recent article for CNN, psychologist Philip Zimbardo and Nikita Duncan discussed some of the consequences that this obsession with video games and pornography is having on our society....
The consequences could be dramatic: The excessive use of video games and online porn in pursuit of the next thing is creating a generation of risk-averse guys who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school and employment.
Stories about this degeneration are rampant: In 2005, Seungseob Lee, a South Korean man, went into cardiac arrest after playing "StarCraft" for nearly 50 continuous hours. In 2009, MTV's "True Life" highlighted the story of a man named Adam whose wife kicked him out of their home -- they have four kids together -- because he couldn't stop watching porn.
Norwegian mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik reported during his trial that he prepared his mind and body for his marksman-focused shooting of 77 people by playing "World of Warcraft" for a year and then "Call of Duty" for 16 hours a day.
Zimbardo and Duncan have written a new book entitled "The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling And What We Can Do About It" in which they present some absolutely startling research. A recent Business Insider article summarized some of the key points from the book....
-In 2011, young men's SAT scores were the worst they had been in 40 years.
-Even Hollywood has caught on: films like Failure to Launch, Knocked Up and Jackass mock the ineptitude of this generation.
-Boys account for 70 percent of D's and F's given at school.
-Research shows guys aren't interested in being husbands, fathers or the head of the household.
-Boys are four to five times more likely than girls to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Two-thirds of students in special education programs are guys.
-The average boy spends 13 hours a week playing video games. The average girl spends 5. The average young American will spend 10,000 hours playing video games by age 21. That's twice the time it takes to earn a bachelor's degree.
-The average high school boy spends two hours watching porn every week. Men can't escape porn: 13,500 full-length commercial porn films were released in 2011, compared with 600 Hollywood films.
-Researchers claim that internet pornography is hurting young boys' ability to form meaningful romantic relationships because they objectify their partner.
-It's predicted that 60 percent of bachelor's degrees will go to women by 2016.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Clearly something has gone very, very wrong.
When these sex-obsessed boys grow up, they become sex-obsessed men.
Just check out what ABC News discovered was going on over at the SEC....
One senior attorney at SEC headquarters in Washington spent up to eight hours a day accessing Internet porn, according to the report, which has yet to be released. When he filled all the space on his government computer with pornographic images, he downloaded more to CDs and DVDs that accumulated in boxes in his offices.
An SEC accountant attempted to access porn websites 1,800 times in a two-week period and had 600 pornographic images on her computer hard drive.
Another SEC accountant used his SEC-issued computer to upload his own sexually explicit videos onto porn websites he joined.
And another SEC accountant attempted to access porn sites 16,000 times in a single month.
Those that are chosen to work at the SEC are supposed to be among our finest young men and women.
So if this kind of thing is going on over at the SEC, what is happening in the rest of society?
And just look at the U.S. Secret Service. It made global headlines recently when it was discovered that a whole bunch of agents were consorting with prostitutes.
We are very, very messed up as a nation.
And we now have an entire generation of young men that don't know how to act like men.
In fact, we are rapidly becoming a nation of slobs that do not even have the capability of handling adult responsibilities.
Sadly, at this point young men in the 25 to 34 age bracket are nearly twice as likely to live with their parents as young women the same age are....
The number of adult children who live with their parents, especially young males, has soared since the economy started heading south. Among males age 25 to 34, 19% live with their parents today, a 5 percentage point increase from 2005, according to Census data released Thursday. Meanwhile, 10% of women in that age group live at home, up from 8% six years ago.
So what can be done to fix this?
Well, unfortunately there is not an easy solution to this problem.
How in the world are we going to convince millions upon millions of young men to spend less time playing video games and watching pornography?
Sadly, the truth is that this problem is getting a little bit worse every single day.
So we are headed for big, big trouble as a nation.
What are your thoughts on all of this? Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion below....
"Have you ever noticed that our young girls seem to be far ahead of our young boys and that our young women seem to be much more "together" than our young men are?"
Yes, as a young woman, IDK if this is necessarily a bad thing. I also would point out that if the author is referring to adults in their early twenties, their brains are still developing and girls generally mature faster than boys. I don't know that this is necessarily new.
"Have you ever noticed how many young American men almost seem like zombies and find even the most basic human interactions extremely awkward?"
This is true for many people, not just men.
"Well, this didn't happen by accident. Researchers are finding that there are two traps in particular that are absolutely destroying the next generation of young men in America. One is video game addiction and the other is pornography."
Holy jumping to conclusions, Batman! Who are these researchers, and how did they ever make such a correlation? Video games and porn make people socially awkward? It's possible that all these things overlap but in order to make a huge statement like this y'all need to back that up with something more than "researchers said." What researchers, WHEN did they say, HOW did they study it, and how did they conclude video games and porn are the reason people are socially inept?
Actually I'm not reading the rest of this because it is alarmist and unbelievably sexist.
So yes. That's what I think.
The article is better off as a blog post. This isn't for science, this is one author's experience. It would be the same as if I decided to write about how watching Sherlock is ruining GPAs across America.
It isn't. It doesn't. Was it my procrastination tool of choice this past finals season? You bet it was. Does that mean it caused my mediocre grades? Absolutely not.
Thanks for your thoughts godsgirl23.. I loved your sarcasm :ROFL: Really funny :) God bless.. Oh and I have no idea what a teal deer thing is but that's beyond the point. That was an awesome post :laugh:
