I don't get the Nestorian accusation. I read that linked sermon and he seemed to just hammer on Mariolatry (which needs hammering on; it's crazy that so many who call themselves Christians add worship and prayer to saints and Mary).
I think the remark rings very true to me that Project Reconquista and re-urbanization both required a new generational perspective. It's psychologically a lot more difficult for the old to try to reconquer and rehabilitate ground that they have personally seen laid to waste, while to the eyes of the youth that wasteland is terra nullius.
I notice a lot of the Zoomer men at my church listen to RZ. I don't know how much they care about Christological hair-splitting though. I'm inclined to think that's one of RZ's personal quirks. But it's true that MacArthur doesn't mean much to them.
Yet overall I don't think that faithful Zoomers are really that different from faithful Millennials in terms of how we think about theology. I see Millennials as the apologetics generation, in terms of devouring apologetics content like never before, even if it was produced by Boomers and Gen X in our youth. The early Internet was dominated by Christian vs. atheist debates, and Internet apologetics arose at a time with a new thirst for information and a needed response to the New Atheists when we were in high school and college.
We also have dealt with total alienation from secular peers over homosexuality -- either having to keep our mouths shut or end friendships. Maybe Gen X dealt with this as well, but I don't see this as much among Boomers.
On both of these, I don't see Gen Z as being in all that different of a place; they have much more in common with us than we do with the older generations. They too devour apologetics, and homosexuality remains a point of irreconcilable difference with secular peers.
One other thing I notice though -- especially poignant with Charlie Kirk's death -- is that college seems to have been an even more hostile environment for them than for us, which leaves those that rejected woke culture a lot more hostile and bitter towards it than we are. To a lot of Millennials around me, living here in a conservative area, woke has always seemed very far away.
I'm curious how you think that generational change impacts the world of cities/urbanism, etc.
It's interesting to me b/c while Boomers were the major force behind suburbanization, it was also all Boomers that started New Urbanism. The latter group had a heavy influence on Millennials and some of us Xers. But that whole world is changing rapidly & aging out, and I'm fascinating to see Gen Z's take on cities, urbanism, etc. I talk with some super-impressive Gen Z people in that world, but I also wonder if the cultural vibe shift will push that generation largely out of cities and end the urban revival of the last 2 decades.
Re: Thinking about the songs from my youth in the 1980s, it’s amazing how many of my favorites were literally about the Boomers
I'm an older Xer and while I do have some 70s and 60s tunes on my extensive Amazon playlists (which are composed of music from across my whole life), most of my music is from the 80s on-- the Golden Age of MTV most notably. I have just one Beatles song, just one Stones song, some stuff from the Who (mostly from "Tommy") and three Cher songs. By contrast I have five Madonna songs, six Lady Gaga songs, five U2 songs, and five Nirvana songs
Re: I could easily have a conversation with people my Boomer parents’ age
Yes, and no. I think the older folks misunderstood just how difficult getting started in life had become even for us. I graduated college in 1992-- right into the teeth of the first jobless recovery. And the old fogey gripe "Why can't kids work their through college like I did" was absurd even back then. All in all I feel more connected with my own generation, and with the Millennials-- though yes, Zers are terra incognita to me.
Re: there was always a disconnect when talking to those from my grandparents’ Greatest Generation.
That was my parents' generation (I was late born to them). WWII was more real and present to me than Vietnam was.
I don't get the Nestorian accusation. I read that linked sermon and he seemed to just hammer on Mariolatry (which needs hammering on; it's crazy that so many who call themselves Christians add worship and prayer to saints and Mary).
Enjoyed the thoughts.
I think the remark rings very true to me that Project Reconquista and re-urbanization both required a new generational perspective. It's psychologically a lot more difficult for the old to try to reconquer and rehabilitate ground that they have personally seen laid to waste, while to the eyes of the youth that wasteland is terra nullius.
I notice a lot of the Zoomer men at my church listen to RZ. I don't know how much they care about Christological hair-splitting though. I'm inclined to think that's one of RZ's personal quirks. But it's true that MacArthur doesn't mean much to them.
Yet overall I don't think that faithful Zoomers are really that different from faithful Millennials in terms of how we think about theology. I see Millennials as the apologetics generation, in terms of devouring apologetics content like never before, even if it was produced by Boomers and Gen X in our youth. The early Internet was dominated by Christian vs. atheist debates, and Internet apologetics arose at a time with a new thirst for information and a needed response to the New Atheists when we were in high school and college.
We also have dealt with total alienation from secular peers over homosexuality -- either having to keep our mouths shut or end friendships. Maybe Gen X dealt with this as well, but I don't see this as much among Boomers.
On both of these, I don't see Gen Z as being in all that different of a place; they have much more in common with us than we do with the older generations. They too devour apologetics, and homosexuality remains a point of irreconcilable difference with secular peers.
One other thing I notice though -- especially poignant with Charlie Kirk's death -- is that college seems to have been an even more hostile environment for them than for us, which leaves those that rejected woke culture a lot more hostile and bitter towards it than we are. To a lot of Millennials around me, living here in a conservative area, woke has always seemed very far away.
I'm curious how you think that generational change impacts the world of cities/urbanism, etc.
It's interesting to me b/c while Boomers were the major force behind suburbanization, it was also all Boomers that started New Urbanism. The latter group had a heavy influence on Millennials and some of us Xers. But that whole world is changing rapidly & aging out, and I'm fascinating to see Gen Z's take on cities, urbanism, etc. I talk with some super-impressive Gen Z people in that world, but I also wonder if the cultural vibe shift will push that generation largely out of cities and end the urban revival of the last 2 decades.
Re: Thinking about the songs from my youth in the 1980s, it’s amazing how many of my favorites were literally about the Boomers
I'm an older Xer and while I do have some 70s and 60s tunes on my extensive Amazon playlists (which are composed of music from across my whole life), most of my music is from the 80s on-- the Golden Age of MTV most notably. I have just one Beatles song, just one Stones song, some stuff from the Who (mostly from "Tommy") and three Cher songs. By contrast I have five Madonna songs, six Lady Gaga songs, five U2 songs, and five Nirvana songs
Re: I could easily have a conversation with people my Boomer parents’ age
Yes, and no. I think the older folks misunderstood just how difficult getting started in life had become even for us. I graduated college in 1992-- right into the teeth of the first jobless recovery. And the old fogey gripe "Why can't kids work their through college like I did" was absurd even back then. All in all I feel more connected with my own generation, and with the Millennials-- though yes, Zers are terra incognita to me.
Re: there was always a disconnect when talking to those from my grandparents’ Greatest Generation.
That was my parents' generation (I was late born to them). WWII was more real and present to me than Vietnam was.