Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 1

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America Research Writing Alice Guinther Professor Christina Moos August 16, 2009

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 2 There is a separation between people in America today. As a culture, distance has been imposed between differing age groups. The main value of our culture is on a lifestyle of independence within our communities; and little value is placed on interdependence. The loss of interdependency creates a climate of self reliance and loss of value in helping others in need. When the pinnacle of life is youth, strength and personal achievement; productivity is the only measure of worth. Due to a shift in American society from Judeo-Christian ethics to todays postmodernism the elderly are viewed as non-productive members of society and therefore without value. Looking back in history to societys early roots, the extended family group was vitally important for the survival of the family line. Families that worked as a unit faced a better life style by having all the members, no matter the age, work together. The most able members worked the fields, others cooked and cleaned, and finally the oldest members that were not strong enough to work in the fields provided for child care of the youngest members of the household. In ancient Israel, God made it very clear through the Mosaic laws that care should be shown to widows, orphans and strangers. The Law mandated care for the wondering poor who had no land to farm. It is illustrated in the God ordained tithe written in Deuteronomy 26:12 (New American Standard, 1977) When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Notice here that the seemingly non-productive members of society were to eatand be satisfied. The level of support points to care for non-productive members of society that included the elderly. This is a reminder to Gods people to care for the needy because they have value as human beings, with

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 3 out restrictions on whether they are productive. God blesses His people so that they can be a blessing to others; and ultimately God receives the glory. As the culture started the shift from an agrarian society to an industrialized one during the Industrial Revolution, change began in society. Susannah Ottaway states in her book, The Decline of Life: Old Age in Eighteenth-Century England (2004), that with industrialization came a change in attitude. Yes, there still was the church support of the poor and aged, but a rising tide of sentiment was beginning as people were seeing the poor and aged as burdens on society. There were poor laws on the books as early as the 1760s in England that required families to be responsible for the support of their aged parents, but the parish church was expected to pick up the slack in elderly support when the families could not afford, or did not want to support an elderly family member. Then, as today, people were expected to save for their evening days, and the elder members were expected to stay within the family home to help earn their keep with child care and household chores. Later in the Eighteenth century in England, however, due to an economic downturn, more elderly were unable to support themselves. These people were relegated to work houses for the poor-- stigmatized and shunned as indigent. As Ottaway writes, It seems that in important ways the deterioration in the condition of the elderly poor in the eighteenth century can be seen to have set the stage for our modern conception of the elderly as a group that is a burden to society (p 12). So it seems that the loss of value of the elderly in England started before the twentieth century. In America prior and post Industrial Revolution there still was an emphasis on the extended family well into the twentieth century. In the book, Ageism, the Aged and Aging in

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 4 America, (1997) the husband and wife educators, Ursula and Gerhard Falk, write about the continuance of the extended family. They point out from a strictly monetary point of view; the older generation owned the farm and as an early inheritance would pass the ownership to the adult children. The legacy would pass to the next generation with the parents remaining in the house to help run the farm in exchange for security in their decline. As generations then moved into the suburbs, the newly married children would move into the family house to get their start in life and take care of the aged parents, again to take possession of the home as an early inheritance. Because of this, the succeeding generations were raised in contact with the elderly. There was interdependency between the generations, and children had a healthy understanding of the natural decline with old age. As society moved forward into the twentieth century and entered into the turbulent 1960s, a new phenomenon began-- a search to find ones self. The youth of this time searched alternative religions and looked for new meaning in life by exploring the philosophy of relativism and creating their own moral code. Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer writes in his book, He is There and He is Not Silent (1982), that the searching youth began exploring the mysticism in their own heads through taking drugs to find some meaning. The Christian Bible as a source of knowledge was discredited, and meaning was found in status and obtaining physical possession. As these youth grew older, their only fulfillment was found in the material world, and so their measure of success in life was found by working hard for status and things. Doctors Rowe and Kahn write in their book, Successful Aging (1998), that now in this society the measurement of productivity is a paying job. So as society began to embrace a postmodern outlook, productivity is the only measure of value. The elderly are no longer seen as a needed addition to the family unit.

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 5 With productivity now determining the measure of worth, the older generation began to be viewed as a burden, and even the elderly parents themselves saw their own lives after retirement as burdensome to their children. So to keep the elderly well cared for and then separated, they entered communities just for retirees. Mary Pipher writes in her book; Another Country (1999) how in America, We group our people by age. We put our three-year-olds together, our thirteen-year-olds together, and our eighty-year-olds together. [And that] children and teenagers can go months at a time with no contact with the old (p 18). Pipher also writes that nothing in our culture is positive towards aging. All our industries and advertising is aimed towards glorifying the young. The thinking is that the elderly keep the young from fun, and work, and excitement. Thus the elderly see themselves as phased out. With a consumer society of planned obsolescence, the elderly become un-needed and they fade away graciously. (p 54) But the elderly themselves learn to not bother the young people as a part of the unwritten rules of American society today. In a personal example, the author as a young child was taken to visit pop-pop in the nursing home with her father. Pop-pop was a great, great uncle, and at the time was 97 years old. For a youngster in a nursing home, the experience was strange but valuable. The initial discomfort changed to fascination at the reminiscences shared from the era before motorized vehicles. As a young adult, the author had just entered nursing school where the first lesson was in geriatric nursing. The authors initial lessons were in a skilled-care nursing home. There was a frustration from an inability to spend time with the elderly residence, but the most heartbreaking and memorable moment was seeing an elderly woman, suffering from the end stages of cancer and heavily medicated for pain, breathing in the labored breath of what is known as

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 6 cheney-stoaks breathing (end of life breathing)--totally alone with no one to hold her hand. She died the next day. As people franticly keeps themselves busy there is no sense of responsibility to ones aging parents. As a society people cannot slow down or sacrifice to their parentsthe excuse is related to striving for independence. The parents should have had the foresight to save for themselves, keeping their independence and consequently no need to burden their children. With the discrediting of the teaching of Christ in the 1960s and the rise of postmodernism, Jesus words in Matthew 25:40, to the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me, are meaningless. Productive (working) adults can only see the elderly as a burden on society. If productivity is societys main goal, to lose ones value with retirement is to have to face a futility of life. As philosopher J.P. Moreland writes in his book, The God Question (2009), people keep themselves so busy and frantic because they are afraid to slow down and be quiet. People in society today fear the solitude of having nothing to do because they are unable to face anxiety, and feelings of insignificance. People are afraid of their own pain and to face their own loneliness. By ignoring the elderly, people do not have to face the fact that they too are aging and will someday be phased out and put aside as un-needed. Yet even in the church there is an emphasis on the young. Ministries frequently focus on attracting youth, and young married adults with children in hopes that this will showcase how relevant the church is today. But in an editorial in Christianity Today entitled Go Gently into that Good Night (2007), the editor points out a lack of care of the elderly where it is stated: We disparage the elderly when we let our media focus nearly exclusively on the young, when visitation of nursing homes is replaced with more exciting mercy activities, when we fuss over young visitors with children but offer only polite handshakes to the elderly couples, when we avoid the sick and dying. (p 2)

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 7 Even in worship is a tension between the new hip worship songs and the old hymns. Why is there the loss of accommodation to the older members of the congregation? Couldnt the addition of a few of the classics provide a more balanced mix of songs that bring comfort to the older members? Also churches can take advantage of the older members years of walking with the Lord. Vernon Grounds PhD, Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care and Christian Ethics at Denver Seminary, writes in a essay included in the book Aging, Death, and the Quest for Immortality (2004) some suggestions for allowing the older members of the congregation to share in what he terms a ministry of informal teaching, allowing the older members the chance to share their spiritual experiences with the younger generations (p 13). Some ideas to help on a grass-roots level would be to start a program in elementary school for frequent trips to local nursing homes to allow classes to meet and talk with the residents, to allow the children vital contact with the older generation. This also would build up the residents to give them some meaning and reduce the feeling of isolation. Also within the church, additional ministries can be developed to involve adults and youth in regular visits to skilled care nursing homes to be compassionate listeners. Finally, the challenge for people with the special calling of the ministry of offering end of life care by holding the hand of a dying person with no-one else to sit with them in their last days. To offer comfort and prayer in a persons final days so they will not die alone. Humanity must never forget that if they live their lives according to the way God made all humans to flourish; that to be truly satisfied with life, they need to serve others. As it is written in Philippians 2:5-7, Have this attitude [mind] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant [slave], and being made in

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 8 the likeness of men. To truly be like Jesus is to serve; to be as a slave to one another. Jesus said in Matthew11:29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (my emphasis). To be humble is to empty ones self of striving after things and allow Gods love to fill people with His desire for service to one another. Can humanity show the compassion of Christ to others and become His ambassadors and let God make His appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:20, NAS)? As written here, over the centuries there has been a gradual shift in the response to the elderly in society. Yes, even in the time of ancient Israel people had to be reminded to care for the non-productive (widows, etc). However, most people wanted to honor God by showing compassion to the elderly, and into the early twentieth century the aged parents were still thought of as valuable addition to the home, being allowed to live out their days in relative comfort. Children were not segregated from the old, and so they grew up understanding the decline of old age. But with a shift in the 1960s to a postmodern, relativistic form of thinking, the elderly were seen as a burden and put aside in nursing homes or retirement communities. Now, with our striving for youth, beauty, and status, people do not wish to be reminded of their mortality by having to deal with aging. The church in todays society could do much to begin to reverse this trend by starting ministries to the elderly and begin to bring forward the radical notion of compassion to the least of these American society needs to re-emphasize the intrinsic value of all human life as made in the imago Dei, the image of God. The church could be the leader in re-introducing the very young to the very old and show the children and the adults that the elderly have great stories to tell and great contributions to make to succeeding generations. But are we willing to be compassionate listeners?

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 9 Finally, I would like to end with excerpts of a poem shared by Dr Grounds found in the personal effects of an un-named woman who died in a home for the aged in England. What do you see, nurse, what do you see? What are you thinking when you look at meA crabbed old woman, not very wise, Uncertain of habit with far away eyes, Who dribbles her food and makes no reply When you say in a loud voice, I do wish youd try.

The worn body crumbles, grace and vigor depart, There now is a stone where I once had a heart. But inside this carcass a young girl still dwells, And now and again my embittered heart swells. I remember the joys, I remember the pain, And Im loving and living life over again. I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast. And accept the stark fact that nothing can last. So open your eyes, nurse, open and see Not a crabbed old woman, Look closer- see me! (p 10) An excerpt from the poem published in the book, Aging, Death, and the Quest for Immortality (2004).

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 10

References

U. Falk and G. Falk. (1997). Ageism, the Aged and Aging in America: On Being Old in an Alienated Society. Springfield, IL; Charles C Thomas Publisher.

Go Gently into that Good Night, editorial from Christianity Today, January, 2007. Retrieved July 4, 2009 from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/january/20.26.html?start=2

Holy Bible. (1977). New American Standard. New York, NY; Thomas Nelson Publisher.

C. Mitchell, R. Orr, S. Salladay; Editors. (2004). Aging, Death, and the Quest for Immortality. Grand Rapids, MI; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

J. Moreland. (2009). The God Question: An Invitation to a Life of Meaning. Eugene, OR; Harvest House Publishers.

S. Ottaway. (2004). The Decline of Life: Old Age in Eighteenth-Century England. New York, NY; Cambridge University Press.

M. Pipher. (1999). Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of our Elders. New York, NY; Penguin Putnam Inc.

J. Rowe and R. Kahn (1998). Successful Aging. New York, NY; Dell Publishing.

Treatment of the Elderly in Postmodern America 11 F. Schaeffer. (1982). He is There and He is Not Silent. Wheaton, IL; Tyndale House Publishers.