Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Ageism?

Is our society ageist?  Is the church ageist?

In a time when sexism and racism and likely other isms are such hot button issues, is it a bit much to throw out the term ageism?  And really, does ageism even make sense when aging is, as far as we know, in each of our futures?  

Or maybe it does make sense precisely because aging is a reality for all of us.  We don't want to age.  Personally, I'm on the tail end of the baby boomer generation, being in my late 40's.  It's not uncommon to see a friend post on Facebook something about getting old.  My job is a somewhat active one, often involving climbing up on ladders etc, and I often find myself saying I'm getting too old for this stuff.  I think it's fair to say there is a dread of getting older.

But then I have to ask, is it a chicken and the egg kind of thing?  Does our dread of aging lead to our attitudes on aging, or is it that our attitudes on aging lead to the dread of aging?  

I found it interesting recently that I'd asked an online forum of ministers if they envisioned a more active focus on senior adult ministry.  It did not take long for the discussion to turn into how we can attract more twenty-somethings.  The response seemed to go along the lines of, our church is already largely made up of seniors so there's already a focus on senior ministry, we need to bring in more young people.  Ultimately, it was this interaction that led to me thinking of the term ageism.

It would be unfair of me to take too much out of a small handful of comments and paint attitudes where those attitudes may not exist.  I think the term ageism came to mind as much because of my own attitudes about attitudes.  I've already had this belief that many of our church leaders today see youth as being where we need to focus while seniors are almost a hindrance of sorts.  That may not be how they actually feel, but some of the responses definitely seemed to confirm that belief.  

Ultimately, I think we see youth as opportunity, aging as burden.  We look at aging in terms of slowing down, diminished capabilities, and growing health needs.  We dread those things in our own futures.  I don't know the answer to the chicken and egg question I posed earlier, other than to say I suspect that there's more of our dread leading to our attitude than the other.  But what I have to ask is, in the midst of how we feel about aging, does that ultimately lead to leaving those who are aging behind as we long for younger folks?  In our wishing to escape the burden of aging do we miss out on the opportunity that is out there with seniors?  In longing for the greener grass on the other side of the demographic fence do we neglect the greyer but still vibrant grass on our own side?  

And in so doing, who gets left behind because of how we view aging?


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