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What religion was rebellious?
CHICAGO - A crowd of what police describe as hoodlums gathered outside a tavern in Lincoln Park asking passer-bys if they believe in an afterlife.
Clad in black leather dangling chains with metal crucifixes, police say the group gathers each Sunday. "After tossing down a drink at the local pub, they hit the streets to 'witness' their faith in Christianity," said Officer Ted Shlutnick.
"It intimidates some of the older folk, the 'Establishment' as the kids call them," said Shlutnick.
"It's part of a backlash against political correctness," said Evan Bonnamhead, a sociologist at DePaul University.
"This is the first generation raised politically correct, an environment where symbols like the crucifix are becoming more and more forbidden in public areas like court houses and schools.
"In the old days, rejecting religious symbols like the crucifix was rebellious. Today, legislators and principals are the ones forbidding such symbols. That makes the symbols taboo, which causes kids to want them more."
And it's not just crucifixes. Muslim schoolgirls are being sent home for wearing burkas and Jewish boys are refusing to remove their yarmulkes.
Graffiti has also taken a turn for the strange. Gone are the days when kids spray-painted profanity on the walls of buildings. "After all, in today's media, profanity is as common as the air. So to be different, graffiti is now full of religious symbols and verses banned from public buildings," said Bonnamhead.
A government office complex in Boston is a prime example. Vandals spray-painted the Ten Commandments on a wall near the location where a 50-year-old display of the Ten Commandments was removed.
"The authorities tore it down, so a graffiti artist brought it back in the dark of night," laughed Bonnamhead.
A blue jean company called "Faith-fit" is getting in on the action by unleashing jeans that have religious symbols woven into the fabric, making them harder to detect by school administrators.
"Today's James Dean would probably be running an underground youth ministry program, a direct conflict with public school policy."
At a high school in Montgomery Alabama, the opening prayer was banned from football games, ending a 60-year tradition. Inevitably some kids rebelled against the new policy, including the team captain, by chanting "God give us strength" at the opening of a game. Authorities suspended the captain from the team indefinitely.
Another form of this new religious rebellion is hitting closer to home. In keeping with all major religious teachings, many youth are choosing to remain celibate until marriage.
"The 'Sexual Revolution' is now ancient history. Many of the children left in its wake interpret the whole thing as a string of multiple failed relationships, unwanted pregnancies and STDs," said Bonnamhead. "To them, the movement pretty much self-imploded."
Bonnamhead explained that many parents still cling to their sexually-liberated philosophies, which becomes fuel for the fire of rebellious youth.
"It used to be 'Junior' would crash Thanksgiving by announcing he's gay, or telling his parents he's moving in with his girlfriend. Now he shakes things up by announcing his intention to wed within a church and bear children within wedlock. This infuriates many of the aging social subversives who considered marriage oppressive."
Bonnamhead concluded with an insight into the relationship of authority and religion.
"If we really think about it, religion blossoms in its purest form when oppressed by the ruling authority, like the early Christians who practiced their faith in secret. Therefore today's anti-religious environment becomes as a catalyst for a religious renaissance among the youth."
Just then Bonnamhead had to depart when a student burst in the door with some news. "Professor, a bunch of kids just began a massive "pray-in" to protest the censoring of a play. The cops are on the way to remove them but some kids are chaining themselves to fixtures with steel rosaries. Looks like heads are going to roll."
Standard What-If disclaimer: The preceding is pure fiction.
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