The Heart of the Matter: Morality Inverted

Part 12 of 14 – This series of columns is based on the work of Fr. Chad Ripperger that analyzes the spirits of the past six generations and how those spirits have affected the Church.  We only ask that you consider whether his descriptions are true in a general sense, even if they do not describe you or people you know.

The grandchildren of the Boomers, children of GenX and GenY, are “completely plugged into technology,” and tended to be “left at daycare where no moral training was ever given them.” 

It is the generation that has gone without a coherent moral code, religious doctrine, or societal norms. . . Unlike Generations X and Y, who may have been spanked or reprimanded when they did something wrong, even though not much was taught to them as to why it was wrong. . . If they did receive moral formation, it tended to be what is in the general culture today where sins are often described more in terms of how one hurt the environment than how one offended God. This is the generation which has ended up really having little or no moral compass at all.

Fr. Ripperger identifies the generational spirit of GenZ as “depravity.” He notes that during this time in the field of psychology, the word “moral” became a negative term, as witnessed by what is considered acceptable for family viewing on television and in movies.  

[M]any of the older members of this generation are engaging in forms of activity and behavior that prostitutes of ages past would have had the decency to refuse. This is the inversion generation in the sense that often what they consider acceptable. . . is the inverse of what the “Greatest” Generation would have considered acceptable, everything from living together as a norm before marriage to viewing same-sex “marriage” as a “non-issue” because they cannot see why others are hung up with it.

Some of this generation will occasionally show up in church as if to see if God has revised His Ten Commandments to fit their lifestyle.  Others may be active in the Church in hopes of changing the “outdated” moral code of the Church.

This does not bode well, because the younger members of this generation are starting to show the signs of a spirit that will become full blown in the next generation. (all quotes taken from Latin Mass magazine, summer 2012)

Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. (Proverbs 3:7)