We have all wondered from time to time why many young people are so disrespectful and rebellious in our day. Many do not respect their parents, their teachers, their bosses, and even themselves. What has happened that makes some of our youth so disrespectful and rebellious? Let me count the ways.

1. The Sexual Sixties B This was a decade of outward rebellion by many youth. The music from Europe invaded our shores with the long-haired hippies called A The Beatles.@ Their songs and their philosophy of life invaded the gathering places of our youth. The youth accepted the liberal philosophy of doing whatever felt good. They swallowed the corresponding liberal thoughts of many college and university professors of that decade. More changes took place in this decade than any for the past 140 years. The culture took a fast-paced dive downward, and much disrespect was learned during this time when young people were expressing themselves in rebellious ways. The government was called A the Establishment,@ policemen were called A Pigs,@ and the expressions A If it feels good, do it,@ and A free love@ came to be popular. Colleges became centers of debate rather than teaching institutions.
2. Clothing B In the 1950's people wore clothes that fit them and had mostly solid and plain colors for men and pretty colors for women. In the 1960's, the women began to wear more and more clothing that was in the past mainly fitted for men. Also, men began to wear clothing that had subtle and pastel coloring, such as pink, purple, yellow, and clothing with flowers, lines and squares. Someone once said, A You are what you wear@ ; and I think this may not be too far from the truth. Later, the casual look came into popularity. Today, to be dressed with shirt and tie is considered almost taboo or A stuffy.@ The A come-as-you-are@ attitude now prevails, and people have lost much respect for authority in our day, especially for visiting the house of God.
3. Government Involvement B (A) The government became more involved in our lives during the sixties. The book A Equality of Education Opportunity@ led to forced integration and busing in the 1970's. (B) The Supreme Court decided in A Engel vs Vitale, 370 U.S. 421", in 1962 that prayer in public schools was unconstitutional.
4. Religion B Mystic religions became very popular in the 1960's, including Transcendental Medication, The Moonies, Buddhism, etc. A Respect for authority declined among the youth, and crime rates soared to nine times the rate of the 1950's.@
5. Drugs B Marijuana and LSD were encouraged by such respected personalities as Timothy Leary. The music performers endorsed the use of drugs in their songs.
6. Music B From the beginning of the 1960's to the end of that decade, music changed on a large scale. The decade began with the A comeback@ of Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, and Frankie Avalon. It ended with Acid Rock, Psychedelic Rock, with such groups as Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, some Folk Music, and Woodstock, which encouraged the use of drugs such as LSD.
7. Entertainment B From Broadway to TV and movies, disrespect was increased as the decade of the 1960's progressed and then into the following decades. TV programming went from The Flintstone and Mr. Magoo to Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, and Laugh-In, which we as a family would not watch because of its Asuggestive@ content.  Billy Graham was rebuked for appearing on the Laugh-In program. This program is considered mild in comparison to the shows on TV today, especially comedy.  The parents are more stupid than the children, the teachers are more stupid than the students, and the preachers on some of these programs are disgusting with no backbone and not much intelligence.  Just as the frog in the proverbial slowly boiling water, we are headed for true disaster if we do not become sensitive again to the slightest hint of disrespect for God and our old-fashioned beliefs in good social structure through respect and honor to our fellowman.
8. Advertising B I have noticed that even advertising encourages disrespect and rebellion. Have you noticed the expressions: A The customer is always right, You deserve that new car, What happens here stays here, Where there are no rules, Let yourself go, Go to the extreme, No limits, No fear, Go all the way, Odds are you=ll have fun@ ? These are all geared toward rebellion against a righteous life style.
9. The World B Now it seems that many people have more respect for the world than they do for God and his institution, the church. They will readily dress appropriately to go to a prom, a wedding, or a dance; but they resist dressing Aproperly@ to go to God=s house. This shows more respect for the world than for God himself.
10. How Do We Get Back? We must develop a high respect for God=s word, the Bible. We must, as Christians, resist the temptation to be casual on occasions when that casual presentation may show disrespect where respect is demanded and where honor is due. For example, I noticed a young lady once who came to a wedding in her bikini. If people make fun for our being respectful to others and to our God, then be that as it may. We used to make fun of the boys who had long hair, and they would cut their hair. We used to make fun of girls who had their hair too short or even their dresses too short. Somewhere along the line, we allowed them to begin making fun of us, and now we are the underdogs. Let=s get back on track and begin to live with honor and respect to our parents, our elders, our bosses, our teachers, our pastors, our church, and others who may not agree with us. Respect will always win out in the end. Romans 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute [is due]; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.