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| Today's Teens |
She asks, “Why do so many of us not only permit our teenage daughters to dress like this – like prostitutes, if we’re being honest with ourselves – but pay for them to do it with our Amex cards?” Ms. Moses is a mom swept up in the popular culture. But she’s taken a step back from reflexive conformity to think about it.
She has a theory. “It has to do with how conflicted my own generation of women is about our own past, when many of us behaved in ways that we now regret. A woman I know, with two mature daughters, said “If I could do it again, I wouldn’t have even slept with my own husband before marriage. Sex is the most powerful thing there is, and our generation, what did we know?'"
“We were the first not only to be free of old-fashioned fears about our reputations but actually pressured by our peers and the wider culture to find our true womanhood in the bedroom. Not all of us are former good-time girls now drowning in regret… but that’s certainly the norm among my peers.” “I don’t know one of them who doesn’t have feelings of lingering discomfort regarding her own sexual past.”
“Now, with the exception of some Mormons, evangelicals and Orthodox Jews, scads of us don’t know how to teach our own sons and daughters not to give away their bodies so readily. We’re embarrassed, and we don’t want to be, God forbid, hypocrites.”
Moses honestly changed her mind and she’s not pushing views she doesn’t hold, so she’s not a hypocrite. She’s just wiser, and passing on wisdom is laudable. She wonders if her peers will teach their children not to make the same mistakes. It’s not that there’s a lack of awareness: it’s an absence of will. When people learn from their mistakes they usually share the knowledge with those they care for. Why not this?
Her generation acted as though the birth control pill changed human nature. With a self-centeredness that deliberately ignored faith, it’s hardly surprising hurt would result.
Quick pleasures don’t last, but regrets do. The friend who discovered “sex is the most powerful thing there is” could have saved herself some hard knocks if she hadn’t jettisoned lessons from the Bible. It’s replete with teachings about the wonders and dangers of sex.
Jennifer’s daughter may well see her mom’s new position as an ethical quick-change that justifies the hypocrisy charge. If Moses needs support from an authoritative, objective source to trump the skepticism about her newfound scruples, she can still find it in the Bible.
Photo Credit: The Wall Street Journal
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Three cheers for Ms. Moses! Her change of view isn't about hypocrisy; it's about maturity and wisdom. If it impacts one young person to make the right choice, then her post is worth it. And as always, Chet, thanks for posting on such a relevant topic. May it inspire many to think and search...and draw near to the One who established these guidelines in the first place.
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