Breaking Traditions Essay, Research Paper

Tradition is an important part of everyone’s life. Others hold tradition above everything else. Adults feel that it is very important to follow these established customs and cannot even imagine rebelling against them although they may be hurtful in some ways. They may not even remember the reason for these customs in the first place. Throughout the centuries, youth have been pressured by the “older” and “wiser” adults of their generation as they continue to accept traditions and customs. All people have in some form or other heard the remark, “Change is good.” That may be true, but the fact still remains that change is inevitable. Currency, religion, and even marriage changes over time, but the way people adapt or react is the defining line between man and animal. Elderly people fear change because they fear what is not readily understood, and if there is one thing that is difficult to understand, it is where their reactions from broken traditions originate from?

The youth of today are more eager to squander their funds on materialistic items. This was not so during the 20th century. People of that era were forced into a grim and sudden takeover known as the ?depression? over the populace. Their need for food and money then has been a continuing factor that is still affecting their choices in life today. The people of that period of time today are cautious of a possible reoccurrence, and to prevent it from affecting them and people around them severely, they stress saving as much as possible if any such incident will occur. In some way people of the depression era have a right to feel outraged about what people of this era are doing with their money. The people who have experienced the depression are doing all they can in order to save their children and grandchildren from the hardships that confronted them.

In the religions of Islam and Judaism, people of each of the faiths have similar teachings and standards. For example, in Judaism, they believe that the Sabbath day should be kept holy, and that you should follow the Ten Commandments, the laws of God. Their diets consist of kosher foods, and they have there own New Year?s, Rosh Hashanah. Islam is similar, in that its believers adhere to the five pillars, which is similar to the ten commandment, and their diet must primarily consist of kosher products. Both religions are monotheistic. In Judaism the old rule is that a Jewish person must be wed with people of their own faith. This was done to keep their faith with like faith?s in order to allow the groom and bride a common base among them. Aged Jewish people have passed down this custom for quite some years, and now in the day and age we live in people of the Jewish faith are rebelling against this tradition because they have now begun to develop and demand to marry into different faiths. In some ways marrying into different faith?s can help expand Judaism in order to benefit a family. In Islam in its early years it outlawed alcoholic consumption. But nowadays some of our Islamic elders and youth are consuming alcohol. This is immoral by all of Islam?s standards, but it?s still done today.

Marriage is a foundation that today is still a puzzling relationship that leaves all its members questioning its true meaning. Being faithful to ones partner is an obvious but disregarded concept by marriage partners today. This shouldn?t be the way marriages are viewed in the eyes of our youth. That is why Grownups are here to enforce abstinence before marriage and to offer advice to their children. Still, with all the help out in the world about marriage, couples still rush into it too quickly and come out regretting they ever knew one another. Adults strongly feel that in order to bring another life into this world when in a marriage, the couple must be financially and psychologically stable. With these two aspects covered, all that is left is to nurture a child. Adults take the precautions they do because the have lived longer and experienced what ignorance does to those who choose to stay and act the way they do.

Younger generations are constantly under scrutiny because they are the ones that harbor change. Adults currently work with everything they know. Everything they have learned is focused into their endeavors. Their advantage over the younger part of society is time. In my opinion, the adults of our present generation shouldn?t pursue to hinder the new ideas presented by youth, but rather, adults should attempt to nurture creativity and growth as a boy or girl takes that step into the world as a man or woman. As a result, adolescents should respect those who are older and wiser, and strive to learn from them, but never to be discouraged. The future that lies ahead, and those who are to live in it must be taught to do so, because we do not know what the future holds, but we do know how holds the future.