Rising Generation Faces Problems

            There are all kinds of information in the news about problems caused by the rising generation and their futures. We all know about the numerous teenagers who decide to shoot up schools and kill classmates. These youth go through the justice system and hopefully receive true justice. However, there is apparently a limit on what they can receive.

            The suspect in the latest school shooting has been charged “as an adult with capital murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer.” However, he cannot face the death penalty for the crimes or may not even receive a life sentence. 

But the 2005 high court ruling that bans execution of criminals younger than 18 and a 2012 ruling about juveniles facing life in prison means that [the suspect] could be up for parole after 40 years.

“The courts ruled based on the idea that those 17 and younger don’t have the cognitive development to appreciate right from wrong,” said Michael Radelet, a University of Colorado at Boulder sociology professor who has testified in more than 75 death-penalty cases. “Cases like this that are especially violent and an enigma make some people think they are more deserving of death, but the ruling is about the development of the juvenile brain.”

            The above referenced teenage suspect will not lose his life and may receive parole from prison after 40 years. He has not been tried and sentenced, so we do not know what his punishment will be. However, another teenager recently learned how his behavior last summer will affect his future life.

            A 15-year-old young man in Oregon has been ordered to pay more than $36 million in restitution for starting the Eagle Creek Fire last year. The fire started on September 2, 2017, and burned 48,000 acres of forest land. There are eleven different victims with various amounts of restitution amounts. These range from $5,000 to an individual and all the way up to $1,048,877.52 to Union Pacific Railroad, $1,643,035.38 to Oregon State Fire Marshall, $12,500,000 to ODOT, and $21,113,755 to US Forest Service. 

            The teen’s attorney considers the number to be “cruel and unusual” punishment, but the judge does not believe that it violates the Constitution. He believes that it “is clearly proportionate to the offense because it does not exceed the financial damages caused by the youth.” Since the court realizes that the teenagers cannot pay the full amount right now or even in his lifetime, “an affordable sum” and payment schedule will be created.

If the youth wants to appeal this judgmental, there’s a lawful mechanism for him to do that, then they’ll get a statewide answer from the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court,” Phil Lemman, Oregon Judicial Department spokesman said.

The court can grant a full or partial satisfaction of the restitution after 10 years if the teen completes probation, does not commit additional offenses and complies with payment plan.

“The goal in this is to not get every last dollar the youth will make or ever will, but it will provide a structure so victims are acknowledged in their loss and the payments are made so that the youth has the ability to do that, and also to reform him, and also to deter criminal conduct,” Lemman said.

            The law will decide what the final amount will be, but it sounds like a lot will depend on the future behavior of the youth. He recognized his guilt when he pleaded guilty to the charge. Hopefully, he is up to the burden that he will carry. His parents are not being charged at this time, but they may be sued by one or more of the victims.

            My heart goes out to these young people and their families. If the brain of a 17-year-old is not developed enough to make rational decisions, what does this say about the brain of a 15-year-old? How many more teenagers will mess up their lives before this madness stops?

            I am the mother of six children, and I know that all of them did stupid things when they were teenagers. I cannot see any of them becoming a school shooter, but I can see them do something rash like playing with firecrackers in a dry area and starting a fire.

            Now I have grandchildren who are teenagers. They all have parents who are involved in their lives daily. They seem to be well grounded and responsible. They attend church and are active in school activities. They receive good grades as well as win awards. However, I know that teenagers do irresponsible things. After all, they are young, and their brains are not completely developed. How do we help the rising generation to become well-rounded and responsible adults without being saddled with problems like the teens referenced above?

Protection Needed

                As parents and grandparents, we can strengthen our homes, communities, and nations by remembering that it takes only one generation for apostasy to take place.  Each generation of youth must be taught the gospel and assisted in their conversion to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  We must be vigilant in teaching the gospel in our homes and helping the rising generation to become truly converted to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

                We read in 3 Nephi 1:29 that “there was also a cause of much sorrow among the Lamanites; for behold, they had many children who did grow up and began to wax strong in years, that they became for themselves, and were led away by some who were Zoramites, by their lyings and their flattering words, to join those Gadianton robbers.”

                We do not have enemies by the name of “Zoramites” or “Gadianton robbers,” but we do have people in the world leading youth away by their “lyings” and “flattering words.”  Bernie Sanders is a self-proclaimed socialist, and millennials are flocking to hear him speak.  Since socialism is the direct opposite of democracy, we have great need to be concerned.  Sanders is not the only person attempting to lead our rising generation away into darkness.

                Presidency Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught:  “The young people of the Church … hold the future in their hands.  The Church has always been one generation away from extinction.  If a whole generation were lost, which will not happen, we would lose the Church.  But even a single individual lost to the gospel of Jesus Christ closes doors for generations of descendants, unless the Lord reaches out to bring some of them back.”  (See Church Educational System conference on the Book of Mormon, Aug. 14, 2001, as quoted in Book of Mormon Student Manual, Religion 121-122, p. 288.)  

                As the world darkens we must become lights for the rising generation and lead them in the paths of righteousness.  We can strengthen our homes, communities, and nations by assisting our youth in strengthening themselves against the temptations of Satan.

Lost in One Generation

                Each generation of parents can strengthen their family, community, and nation by being vigilant in teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to their children by word and example.  Any family is just one generation away from apostasy, and there are plenty of people willing to help us and our families leave our religion behind.  The rising generation must know the doctrine in order to withstand the forces against them.

                “Change is always one generation away.  So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away – and that’s what I think we have an obligation to do.”

                The above statement was made by Lawrence M. Krauss, a cosmologist and theoretical physicist, while speaking to the Victorian Skeptics Café in Australia.  He made the following suggestion:  “What we need to do is present comparative religion as a bunch of interesting historical anecdotes and show the silly reasons why they each did what they did.  Instead of shying away from it, we have to explicitly educate people to confront their own misconceptions.”

                The scriptures give numerous instances where the rising generation did not follow the teachings of their parents and the problems that arose from their apostasy.  We live in a day when Satan is working hard to convince our youth to make bad choices, and we must give them enough spiritual support to keep them safe.   We can never give our rising generation too much spiritual reinforcement because they face the onslaught of Satan every hour of every day.  Someone once suggested that if we send our children out to face the day without family prayer and scripture study, it is as though we are sending them to battle in a swimming suit with a paper plate for their shield and a straw for their sword.

                The rising generation of today is in great danger of becoming like the one described in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 26.  Three years before the death of King Benjamin, he called his people together in order to speak to them.  He told them that his son, Mosiah, would be their new king.  He told them that an angel had visited him to tell him about the coming of the Savior to the earth.  He taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.  When he was through speaking, he wanted to know if they believed what he had told them.  They replied that they did believe the words of their king.

                “And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God” (Mosiah 5:5). 

                King Benjamin rejoiced that they had made this covenant and took the names of those “who had entered into a covenant with God to keep his commandments.

                “And it came to pass that there was not one soul, except it were little children, but who had entered into the covenant and had taken upon them the name of Christ” (Mosiah 6:1-2).

                A few years and twenty chapters later, we read that there were “many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.

                “They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ.

                “And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened” (Mosiah 26:1-3).

                The rising generation of our day could also be led astray by men and women like Krauss who seek to destroy their faith.  The only way to keep them safe is to teach them to understand their part in Heavenly Father’s plan.

                A 2010 visiting teaching message by Julie B. Beck, then Relief Society general president, was about this topic.  “So what is it that will keep the rising generation safe?  In the Church, we teach saving principles, and those principles are family principles, the principles that will help the rising generation to form a family, teach that family, and prepare that family for ordinances and covenants – and then the next generation will teach the next and so on.

                “As parents, leaders, and Church members, we are preparing this generation for the blessings of Abraham, for the temple.  We have the responsibility to be very clear on key points of doctrine found in the proclamation on the family.  Motherhood and fatherhood are eternal roles and responsibilities.  Each of us carries the responsibility for either the male or the female half of the plan. 

                “We can teach this doctrine in any setting.  We must speak respectfully of marriage and family.  And from our example, the rising generation can gain great hope and understanding – not just from the words we speak but from the way we feel and emanate the spirit of family.”

                On September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke in the general Relief Society meeting and said, “The world we are in is a world of turmoil, of shifting values.  Shrill voices call out for one thing or another in betrayal of time-tested standards of behavior.”  He then introduced “The Family:  A Proclamation to the World” to the sisters, the Church, and the world.

                The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has translated this prophetic document into many languages and given it to world leaders.  The proclamation asks citizens and government leaders `to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”  This document is the foundation for Latter-day Saint beliefs about marriage and family.  If we hold fast to this proclamation and live by its precepts, we can strengthen our homes, communities, and nation. 

Listen Up

                Families, communities, and nations are strengthened when the rising generation grows up and becomes responsible people.  Too many of our teenagers and young adults expect other people or life itself to hand them everything they want on a silver platter.  Yet the happiest young people I know are those who set goals for themselves and work to achieve those goals; in doing so, they become responsible adults.

                I have seen the following information numerous times.  I do not know who wrote the information, but I agree with it.  The judge who gave the advice – and the principle who shared it – understands the secret to rearing responsible adults.  This information needs to be passed along and read to the teenagers and young adults in our lives.

                Northland College principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth.  “Always we hear the cry from teenagers, `what can we do, where can we go?’

                “My answer is this:  Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book.  Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. 

                “The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something.  You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again.  In other words grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone not a wishbone.  Start behaving like a responsible person.  You are important and you are needed.  It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday.  Someday is now and that somebody is you!”

Rise of Secularity

                    I was immediately attracted to a Reuters news article dated Tuesday, January 31, 2012, and written by Peter Henderson and Kristina Cooke about "Mormonism."  The article was about a "religious studies class" held some time last year at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.  The students were concerned about what was happening in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were asking "hard questions."  Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the First Quorum of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was present to answer their questions.

                    One question was, "Did the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know that members are `leaving in droves?'"  Elder Jenson replied that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were very aware of the situation and very concerned about it.  He described the situation as being "a time of challenge, but it isn't apocalyptic."  This problem seems to be among the older members of the "rising generation" - high school students and young, college-age adults.

With the increase in defections in the Church, President Thomas S. Monson and his associates in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have launched a new program in an attempt to stop the losses.  The new campaign is called "The Rescue" and includes new materials being sent to Bishops and other leaders to help teach our rising generation about "some of the more sensitive aspects of church doctrine." 

There are several topics in Church history that are difficult for youth and some adults to understand.  Some of these sensitive topics include plural marriages, blacks and the priesthood, the massacre in Mountain Meadows, and homosexuality.  I will be interested in seeing the package of materials coming out of Church headquarters.

                    Not long after seeing the above referenced article, I listened to a discussion on GBTV between Rabbi Daniel Lapin and Glenn Beck about "Baal" and the rise of secular fundamentalism.  Rabbi Lapin explained that the worship of Baal or secular fundamentalism is just as much alive today as it was three thousand years ago and does not require the idols spoken of in the Bible.  The worship of Baal always demeans women as does the hook-up culture in our day.

Rabbi Lapin said, "Think of it as spiritual gravity.  It is that which tugs our better natures downwards - to everything that is a yielding to bodily appetites, a yielding to darkness, a yielding to hopelessness and pessimism, a yielding to a sense of shortage and misery.  All of these things that are so easily capable of overwhelming us as human beings as we struggle to remain encouraged and bright and filled with faith.  That is the tension that exists within our hearts."

                    To illustrate this problem with spiritual gravity and the fact that it takes hard work to elevate ourselves, Rabbi Lapin used the analogy of a building.  It takes much more energy to move upward in a building than it does to move downward.  The most desirable location in a building is the penthouse, and the least desirable is the basement.  If we were to walk up twenty floors to the penthouse, we would have to exert much energy - but the view would be wonderful.  The penthouse would be warm with lots of sunshine and clean smells.  If we chose to go down the stairs to the dark, dirty, and scary dungeon-like basement, it would be much easier walking.  In fact, if there was a laundry shoot or a slide, the journey to the basement would take little or no energy.  There would be no expansive view from the basement.

                    The rise of secularism began when atheists insisted that prayer and other references to God be taken out of the schools.  It continued with the appearance of the birth-control pill that made the holy relationship between man and woman into a misuse of God-given powers to procreate.  It grew further with the free love generation of the 1960s and continues to grow today.

                    Secular fundamentalism or the worship of science is one of the main reasons why youth and young adults are questioning their religions and losing their faith.  They are being taught secularism in their classes in high school and college. 

                    Our youth and young adults must be rescued as soon as possible and preferably before they leave their churches.  Secularization will bring only heartache and pain into their lives instead of the peace and joy found in the Church of Jesus Christ. We must rescue our rising generations.

The Rising Generation

Families are strengthened when parents are mindful of the needs of the rising generation because teenagers and older children are often tempted to move away from the teachings of their parents.

The scriptures contain several references to the "rising generation." Just before he died, King Benjamin gave a powerful speech from a specially built tower in the courtyard of the temple. The scriptures teach, "There were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the traditions of their fathers" (Mosiah 1:26).

Less than forty years later, the prophet Alma traveled to the various cities and villages in the land in an attempt to reclaim the people who were falling away from the church. "And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea to preach unto … everyone that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; … the aged … the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again" (Alma 5:49).

Another eighty to ninety years passed, and the prophet Nephi wrote, "And thus were the Lamanites afflicted also, and began to decrease as to their faith and righteousness because of the wickedness of the rising generation" (3 Nephi 1:30).

It appears from these scriptures that we must be ever mindful of the rising generation because they stand at a critical intersection in their lives. Many voices are calling to them to travel this way or to go that way. The teenage and early adult years are times of great decisions and important times of needed guidance. Use them wisely and appreciate those quiet and reverent conversations that you may have with your young people.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: "Reserved by the Lord for this time, [the rising generation] must now be preserved… and prepared for their special moment in human history! They have been held back to come forth at this time, but now they need to be pushed forward to meet their rendezvous" ("Unto the Rising Generation," Ensign, April 1985, 8).

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) taught, "Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interests in these His little ones…. Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried" ("Excerpts from Rent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley," Ensign, July 1997, 73).

The rising generation is filled with wonderful young people who are worthy of our best efforts to support and strengthen them. Wise parents will be mindful of the great need for nurturing and strengthening the rising generation.

The Rising Generation

I have long been interested in our youth and have often noticed what the scriptures say about the "rising generation." Just before he died, King Benjamin gave a powerful speech from a specially built tower in the temple courtyard. The scriptures teach, "There were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the traditions of their fathers" (Mosiah 1:26). Less than forty years later, the prophet Alma traveled to the various cities and villages in the land in an attempt to reclaim the people who were falling away from the church. "And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea to preach unto … everyone that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; … the aged … the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again" (Alma 5:49). Another eighty to ninety years passed, and the prophet Nephi wrote, "And thus were the Lamanites afflicted also, and began to decrease as to their faith and righteousness because of the wickedness of the rising generation" (3 Nephi 1:30). It appears from these scriptures that we must be ever mindful of the rising generation because they stand at a critical intersection in their lives. Many voices are calling to them to come this way or that way. The teenage years are times of great decision. They are important times of needed guidance. Use them wisely and appreciate those quiet and reverent conversations that you may have with your young people. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: "Reserved by the Lord for this time, [the rising generation] must now be preserved… and prepared for their special moment n human history! They have been held back to come forth at this time, but now they need to be pushed forward to meet their rendezvous" ("Unto the Rising Generation," Ensign, April 1985, 8). These wonderful young people are worthy of our best efforts to support and strengthen them. There is a great need for nurturing and strengthening of the rising generation. President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) taught, "Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interests in these His little ones…. Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried" ("Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley," Ensign, July 1997, 73).