Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
- 92 ~ ' '\T0«l i5j>>Oj£. ni» —cr 1960 -Nq 2 factors which deternd.no thxeJLif o--of youth t day: the parolcingation of human life* the rapid, doveXcpmeni>cf^s-cicnoc -and-.-echnclogy, and urbanisation» It is by the interaction^of these three- histor:cal and social factors that the .^QoerrationjDpobJxai of our-days-arises« The propagation cf human life-. In the thirties, the average life -expectancy of men was 51 years and that of women 55 yearso Tcday men can reckon with a life expectancy of €7 years and women with 72 years, This implies that the generation problem today comprises the life spans cf three generations. Hence it goes beyond the erode of the families concerned and widens out to become a problem of the whole society and nation. The most explosive age group today is not of those in the years of puberty but the group of young adults0 This group is marked by the incredible increase cf stared knowledge and by tie desire for freedom. Both marks contrast sharply with the weary, uncertain and disillusioned world of the fathers and grandfathers» The development cf technology e The wo rid has become small, and the general interest in faraway places and peoples has grown» With this is coupled the desire to become familiar with and participate in the urgent, acute problems of the peoples and continents, V/hab was yet a century ago something absolut oly beyond one * s roach, or, fifty years ago, an interesting item in travellers? and explorers* stories is now becoming an intimately personal experience«, But this also means tint today*3 youth, with the attitude of extroversion - in contrast to the rather introverted interest in matters belonging to the spiritual, transcendental wcrld - is keen to apprehend the enfolding realities of life which promise to usher in the desired ends cf the future-- There is an open road towards the wonders of technology,» This generate s activity and an exuberance of vigour» Urbanisation., heightened claims on the comforts cf "life, as a result of urbanisation; intensify the tension between the generations. The attendant problems are aggravated by the lack of proper housing which causes impatience and lack of understanding» The method of work ard the way of using one•*s leisure time also cause differences«. All this activates the problems bearing on the relation of two or three generations to one another« Wo are going to investigate the Hungarian aspects of the genera.tion problem from three angles» First, the religious and ideological conflict«, According to a statistical survey in Budapest, in 1966, 20 % of the 18-year-old students questioned called themselves religious, 15- fc indifferent, 30 fa said that they had lost touch with religious life and 27 ^ professed to materialism,, In comparison with their parents tne figures are as follcwss of 338 students questioned, 4 were more religious than their párostsf 26 of about die same degree of religiosity, 58 atheists like their parents- 56 indifferent like their parents, 173 less religious than their parents and 25 students gave no answer« The "less religious'1 column shows that there is a difference of views on re-, ligious and ideological matters in every second family between parents and children,
