Clear Windows

Increasingly, my views of religious bodies are dovetailing with my views of the US service industry. I don't need to huff and puff on this blog to advocate that both become more nimble and responsive, nor do I need to underscore the urgency of doing so. I believe the hard numbers are so dramatic that these organizations will either adapt or face extinction. Even if we postulate a 10-year delay in Baby Boomer retirement ("until they drop," as a recent AARP survey supposedly found out), the replacements for the relatively well-off Boomers simply aren't there. The conditions that pre-Boomers such as my parents enjoyed, so favorable to wealth-building--early marriage and homeownership, high interest rates on savings, and (at least usually) low gas prices--are vanishing or have already vanished. From early indicators, I must ruefully predict that neck braces will become a common sight among those in charge of religious bodies and those who sell consumer goods and services, resulting from the whiplash they experience from hitting a solid object after 20 to 30 years of boomy momentum.

The only way out, in my view, is a radical change in thinking. These institutions will need to take out the stained glass--the perceptual filters they employ--and gain a clear, sober view of the world. They will have to gain an honest appraisal of what they are doing for the world on a personal and societal level. The white suburban consumerist society will run out of means--if nothing else, human means, as our birth rate is well below replacement levels. What we install in its place is up to us.

Comments

[Jordan Retro 4]

is actually hard to believe this is because of all the start and a professional basketball player who has been over the limit, and look forward to any person, may be his own, have a dream to have a dream, and dreaming, to try and sum up your mind, a left and right.

[Jordan Retro 4]

is actually hard to believe this is because of all the start and a professional basketball player who has been over the limit, and look forward to any person, may be his own, have a dream to have a dream, and dreaming, to try and sum up your mind, a left and right.