The Lost Valentine was on Hallmark. It is a movie I highly recommend! It is set in a time in our history when sexual immorality was not nearly as common and society wasn't hyper-sexualized like it is today.
Women knew how to be modest. Their dresses covered up their privates instead of accentuating them. They looked and acted very feminine. They mostly wore dresses. Most mothers were at home taking care of their children.
Was it a perfect time? No. World War II was in full swing. Most young men were fighting Hitler's evil. Many young men sacrificed their lives. It was a very difficult time in our history.
However, I imagine it was a much easier time to remain sexually pure. There was no Internet where you could get pornography at the click of a mouse and no iPhones either. There were not televisions to watch others having sex and sex selling almost everything, including hamburgers. People just listened to radios and talked to each other.
The music was decent and romantic. No vulgar words. Just simple love songs. Sure, there was evil going on. I am sure there was fornication and adultery and everything else but not to the degree it is today. One never heard of young girls and women being abducted and brutally raped and murdered. Most people didn't even have locks on their doors!
Divorce was rare. Parents stayed together and raised their children. Yes, it is easy to romanticize those days and look back with nostalgia but God has placed us here, in this day, for His purposes. They had their struggles and we have ours but evil is definitely increasing, however, we can still live as godly women instead of following our culture's fashions and behavior.
I just think living in a society that wasn't so sexualized would have been good. Good for marriages. Good for young people. Easier for men. Now, most places they go, they see scantily clad women...the mall, the beach, the theater, etc. It isn't an easy time to raise sons to be sexually pure but it is possible because, with God, all things are possible. Make it a priority in your life to raise your children in the wisdom and knowledge of God. This is their single greatest protection against the evil age in which we live.
Because of the increase of wickedness,
the love of most will grow cold.
Matthew 24:12
Logging you in...
Cynthia Swenson · 600 weeks ago
kathy · 600 weeks ago
I was born barely in the 50's, but I know that when I was growing up most all mothers were home raising the family. You are right about the war work and women. There were many who were forced to go out and work, but it was with a whole different cause, then it is now. I believe, sadly that that is partly to blame for women deciding they liked making money and what it could afford them instead of staying home with the children. Call me old fashioned, but I too believe it was a nicer world to raise children.
There is so much more to this then you or Lori mentioned here. I understand what both of you have shared. I can agree with a lot of what you have to share. I also know some women who were, abused by family members and it was kept quiet. Speaking up about abuse know is something I'm sure we all appreciate and are thankful for.
Sad thing is that I'm sure if we had accurate statistics to compare then from now the abuse of women would have skyrocketed from then to now. For the very reasons Lori mentioned of what our society looks like now.
I hope and pray that I live long enough to see the best of both times be a reality. I really don't understand why someone with such obvious anger towards the ministry that Lori offers bothers to read it.
For many of us out here in the web world she is a beacon of hope and light. For our marriages and our families.
I will pray that you may learn to share your thoughts and feelings in a kinder and gentler way. I'm sure you are a very caring individual, but please realize it can be hurtful to have such anger spewed out on those we care for.
Blessings to all.
Cynthia · 600 weeks ago
Hallmark does not make historically accurate documentaries. They produce fictional movies for entertainment, because they know that sweet stories have an audience.
Have you actually studied early 20th century history, using source documents?
Look up the "flapper dresses" . Attitudes toward modesty and sex actually underwent a dramatic change prior to WWII, at the end of WWI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper
I have pictures of my grandmothers in pants during WWII. With the men away at war, many women entered the work force. They needed to take over jobs which had traditionally been done by men. They did not wear dresses while working in munitions factories. The fact that so many men were away at war also meant that few babies were born during the war years (the Baby Boom started when the men returned after the war).
I will agree that divorce was more rare, but not all families stayed together to raise their children. My great-grandfather kidnapped his children and fled the country after my pregnant great-grandmother escaped from yet another beating. He had more children with another woman - but on paper, the official statistics will show that they were still married, because legal divorces were extremely difficult to obtain.
Prostitution and fornication were common among American troops overseas. Many returned with venereal diseases, which became a public health issue here.
I also find it hard to romanticize a time when there was so much evil and killing in the world. The Bible tells us that we are our brother's keeper, and we cannot ignore those who are oppressed. Millions were being killed, and women and children were killed at a faster rate than able-bodied men. The United States deserves praise for ultimately helping to defeat the enemy, but their entry into the war was late and the American government did not open its borders to refugees, thus condemning them to die.
Tiffany · 600 weeks ago
Sheila Payne · 600 weeks ago
Deb · 600 weeks ago
Sue · 600 weeks ago
Tommie · 600 weeks ago
Melanie Scarbrough · 600 weeks ago
As for our hyper-sexualised society today? I agree it's far more blatant these days than it was fifty, sixty, seventy years ago, but sex was very much in the media during WWII as well, in films, music, advertisements. It was more subtle, but it was definitely there. And I hate to say this, but I see much more about sex on blogs written BY Christian women FOR Christian women than I see anywhere else. I've actually stopped reading certain blogs because of a little too much oversharing--where's the modesty we're supposed to be practicing?
CMarie · 600 weeks ago
PJB · 600 weeks ago
I understand that you found this movie emotionally moving and nostalgic, but it's not like you to post something like this. You are usually a more careful writer, not espousing ideas without researching them, and certainly not ignorant of the Bible's warnings against precisely this kind of longing for "former days".
I had a whole lot to say about your post, but I deleted it all. I don't think debate is what you are on the internet looking for these days. I really just hope you feel better soon. It can't be easy getting through the day these days, and I won't begrudge you your moment of sweetness that you drew from an Hallmark drama.
Courtney · 600 weeks ago
Ken · 600 weeks ago
I have no clue what world a few commenters are living in, but to think that the world is not running headlong into the End Times is to be out of touch with reality. Evil is always present in the world, but there was a time in the U.S. where churches were filled, neighbors were knew each other and acted like a church, even the unbelievers. Doors were never locked, kids played out in the streets and hope abounded.
Fast forward to today and see that right is wrong and wrong is considered right in so many areas of our society. Abortion is acceptable to half the nation, and with it shacking up is almost the norm for even Christian kids. Being gay is not only considered an acceptable lifestyle, it is honored and glorified on tv, the media and legislated to be something wonderful. Alcohol is now replaced with a myriad of special drugs, and even our kids are loaded up with cocaine like drugs to keep their behavior in check and their grades at a high standard.
The list of degradation in our country from 50 years ago to today is almost endless with prisons filled, divorce rates through the roof and everyone doing what is good in their own eyes instead of listening to God’s Word at church on Sundays and at least trying to be a “good person.”
What research do you need to prove this when it is so obvious, and many of us have lived the differences? And please, if you are going to say that the Bible warns against “precisely this kind of longing for "former days" put the Bible verse reference, as it simply is not true in context. God never says that we are not to reminisce about days when men and women walked with God in a more holy and acceptable way. Our longing is for an earth where holiness abounds, the New Millenium where the throne of God comes to live with men who will be obedient to His Word.
I see nothing wrong or inaccurate with what Lori has posted. We live in a fallen world that the scriptures say is running headlong towards complete godlessness. In the United States, much of this is happening on our watch, in our lifetime, and many of us can see it.
I have been working in France for some thirty years now and as you know the French are quite agnostic. About twenty years ago my French friends started saying to me that the U.S. was really falling down in its morality. For ten years they would say this to me and I did not see it, but the last ten years it has becomes so obvious to me. The flood gates of sin are open and abounding in our country and Hollywood and the Internet are leading the way. If some cannot see this, you must have rose colored blinders on. Maybe that is a good thing as it protects your heart and spirit, but the reality is that each decade the heart of mankind is growing colder to the things of God, and with this, evil is abounding and springing up in the most unimaginable places.
Give me your Miley Cyrus, and tell me about the new world of porn compared to 50 years ago. How about men kissing men and women kissing women openly in public. Find me equivalents that a whole nation watches on tv, and what our kids get to see at school, and maybe I will change my mind. The list is endless… not hopeless, because God always calls out a remnant that He keeps as holy unto Himself.
kathy · 600 weeks ago
Marie · 600 weeks ago
Looking at the past, specifically the 1940s and 50s, I just cannot see them as more innocent times for the US for all people living here. What about the lives of blacks in the 1940s? What about Japanese Americans then? As a (white) woman engaged to a (black) man, I cannot look back at such times fondly. Our relationship was illegal then, which is sad as I would be missing out on the opportunity to have such an amazing person, my best friend, in my life. There are a lot of problems here and across the globe today, but I am still glad to live in the time I do instead of in past decades or centuries for many reasons, but the ability to not be a commodity and to not have my fiancee be a commodity are among the biggest reasons.
Joluise · 600 weeks ago
We all would like the chocolate box view of the past – it sounds so wonderful – but no generation has ever lived an idealistic life once you dig beneath the surface.
Chris · 600 weeks ago
I am the youngest child of parents of the "Greatest Generation," both of who have passed at this point in time....Mom 4 years ago; Dad, 20. Dad was on active duty, enlisting after Pearl Harbor was hit and then was stationed in the Philipines for several years.....I have SO much to say and share on this time in history ( and it;s still shocking that it is "history!" as I grew up surrounded by the stories, the culture, etc...well, I'm in middle age now, so this wasn't exactly yesterday!
I skimmed a few com above, tho I don;t have time to read them now...you have an active com box going here! wow.....shows you are welcoming and warm and enjoy good conversation after a thought provoking post! Love that.:)
I noticed one referring to a neg comment and I find it shocking. I do believe that 70 or so years ago, it was "easier" to remain pure. Absolutely,Just given the stories I heard from and Mom and Dad..... You're not longing for the "good ole days" and glorifying them...you're simply stating your opinion on the morality back then as opposed to now in terms of accessibility of sexual images, etc..
Lori thank you for sharing. I look fwd to seeing you around the blogoshpere:) ...
Ken · 600 weeks ago
Hiding sexual sin at least admits that it is wrong. Flaunting in public it is an attempt to try normalize sexual immorality. When Cher and Elton John and others all disapprove of Miley Cyrus and her tv antics, you know the world has changed for the worse.
The good and the bad exist together until the harvest... for the sake of those who are good. The day is coming, maybe soon, maybe in 500 years, but coming when the shout from heaven may be "ENOUGH and the wrath of God will come down on wickedness.
Our job is not lament the past is gone, but rather to be voices in a dark world pointing out that the days are moving towards the end, and proclaiming God's Word on the good, the lovely and the pure. To avoid evil and not get caught up in the new culture that is quickly moving from warm, to hot to a boiling point of sexual sin. Greece and Rome and other highly developed cultures all fell from within as they moved to sexual decadence. Is the U.S. next?
Many of my European non-Christian friends think so.... with regret.
Cynthia · 600 weeks ago
I'd highly recommend Ushpizin http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ushpizin/trailers...
It's a foreign film, but it has English subtitles and is quite easy to follow since the acting is so good. It's a unique blend of parable and spirituality and gritty realism that I haven't seen in many other movies. It's about dealing with the pain of serious trials (poverty, infertility, marital problems, anger issues), clinging to faith during adversity, seeing miracles all around us and the power of prayer. Great for any time, but particularly appropriate now during the Feast of Tabernacles. The main actor made the movie after becoming religious, and insisted that strict modesty standards be maintained. There is absolutely no sex, and his co-star is also his wife in real life.
Ken · 600 weeks ago
"The list of degradation in our country from 50 years ago to today is almost endless with prisons filled, divorce rates through the roof and everyone doing what is good in their own eyes instead of listening to God’s Word at church on Sundays and at least trying to be a “good person.”
1960 compared to 2012 per 100,000 people:
Violent Crime is up 240%
Forced rape up 280%
Robbery up 90%
Aggravated assault up 285%
Burglary up 24%
Larceny up 85%
Vehicle theft up 20% http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
As for the real issue of Lori's post, sexual sins,
Premarital sex approximated by decade:
1900 = 6%
1920 = 20%
1940 = 23%
1960 = 28%
1980 = 48%
1994 = 74% http://www.pbs.org/fmc/book/4family2.htm
I know... there is lots of material put out by pro-abortion groups and others with an agenda to somehow say that premarital sex was just as bad in 1950 as it is today...
But few address the fact that the average age for premarital sex has dropped from 20.5 to 16.5, nor that the avg. teenager today is having sex with multiple partners. In the 1960's if you asked someone if they had premarital sex it was 50% of the time with a fiancé, not four different partners at Spring Break.
The U.S. is different from it's peak of morality in the 50's and 60's. Sure sin abounded, and yes, it was rightfully hidden, instead of flaunted for our children to see. To not see that the pot is reaching boiling a point is to have one's head in the sand. Your own experience with friends, family others you know, must tell you that in the past 50 years the U.S. is heading straight to Sodom and Gomorrah. You do not need a statistic to know what is happening to teens and to adults in our sex crazed society.
Lastly, I am curious to know how many readers had trouble finding a virgin to marry. In today's world, good luck, even among believers. Even if many had premarital sex back in our days it was with the one they married.
kathy · 600 weeks ago
Kristen · 600 weeks ago
I agree with you about people at least trying to hide their behavior in the past. I can't get over some of the things I see on tv these days and how it's just so "normal". And don't even get me started on Miley Cyrus! I just saw an interview with her father and his reaction to her performance and he was basically saying she's an artist and he was proud of her and doesn't see what the big deal is. When I saw her performance all I could think about is what her family must be thinking. Now I guess I know! I agree that we're definitely heading toward the ends times if we're not already in them. There seem to be so many people that are so oblivious to it all too. Makes me scared for them. I'm keeping them in my prayers.
Lori, I've learned so much from your blog and hope you keep up the great work! I was one of the people oblivious to all the bad in the world until I found your blog. I'm so thankful I did. Hope you're feeling better too :)
Danielle B · 600 weeks ago
Not enough clean wholesome movies on TV anymore. Pretty soon, hallmark will be showing halloween movies-sigh.
My mom always loved movies back then. Since she has passed I now watch more movies she would have liked.
Fran · 600 weeks ago
Kim · 600 weeks ago
As for divorce, Mary Ann Mason in The Equality Trap (pub 1988) documents how in 1969, No Fault divorce laws were passed and were pivotal to the increasing divorce rates. In other words, divorce were rare in the past because no one could get one, not because marriages were happier. Woman staying at home didn't guarantee a Godly nation.
As for increased crime rates, Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point states that crime rose starting in 1965, and peaked in the 90s because the baby boomers are getting older, settled, wiser. The attitudes of the past generation are not the attitudes of the current generations, so comparing crime from 1960 is pointless. By paying more attention to the attitude of the 20 age group will tell you what we will be facing in 20 years.
Short dresses were considered immoral, not feminine, until the 1920s.
Movies from the 40s were censored. As soon as the censors were removed, movies were filled with sex, violence, foul language.
Movies will always be from our imagination, and reality will always not be how it was in the movies. Longing for the "good ole days" found only in memories and movies will not help this generation. This is why Jesus died for all, and God was, is, and always shall be. Now, are you ready to face the fastest growing group, atheist churches?