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HowDifferent Societies
lteat the Elderly
Why is it that societies which know the least about the Bible most often treat their elderly better
Íhan those which claim to know most about the Bible?
''1
SAT uP
all night.
1
didn't close my
eyes.
1
couldn't sleep," Mattie
complained. "A woman in another
cell was yelling all night, and 1
couldn't sleep because
1
was ashamed
of being there."
This was Mattie's first night
in jail. She had been arrested for
stealing.
lt Happened in America
Con artists earlier had robbed Mattie
of her meager savings. lnflation,
· rent, utility and medica! bills- and
hunger- had gotten the best of her.
To survive she took $15.04 worth of
desperately needed groceries from a
supermarket. That's what landed her
in a Texas jail.
Mattie.is
91.
As she was released
she said in her scratchy, fading voice
that her one night in jail was the
last straw in a long life of trouble.
"1
just pray that God will close my
eyes and take me out of this
world."
Isolated, destitute, hungry.
No children, grandchildren or rel–
atives offering help.
A victim of crime, ill health, infla–
tion, loneliness. For Mattie and for
many other elderly people, old age
has been turned into a heavy burden,
a distressing ordeal.
It
should not
be.
It is not always that way in the
West. And among sorne peoples and
cultures, especially those in the Third
World, the elderly have traditionally
occupied a position of respect, as
reflected in the following quotes.
Even in many of these areas, howev–
er, the situation is being, or may
already have been, altered due to
34
by
Clayton Steep
política! changes and the influence of
Western culture.
A Look at Other Societies
Now see the contrast in other socie–
ties.
The Bantu Tiriki of Kenya:
" ... r ight up until adolescence,
grandparents and other old people
take a dominant role in the informal
instruction of children . . . Grand–
children in their turn come to view
grandparents not only as very kind
and pleasant people, but as the story–
tellers and tutors of worldly wisdom,
and, most important, as the people
they can depend on to help most
in
times of real trouble or distress"
(Sangree,
Peoples of Africa).
The Mbuti Pygmies:
" .. .
older
people always receive respect as
such" (Turnbull,
Peop/es of Afri–
ca).
The Kung Bushmen of the Kala–
hari Desert:
" Both the father and
mother expect and receive respect
and obedience from their chil–
dren ... As long as the father lives,
he is the head of the family ... Kung
families are responsible for depen–
dents. Thus old, dependent parents
are unfailingly supported by their
offspring ..." (Marshall ,
Peoples of
Africa).
The Chagga in Tanzania:
" ... caring for and being cared for is
part of life from beginning to end"
(Kessler,
Human Behavior) .
The Aborigines of Australia:
"The aborigines everywhere and on
all occasions pay great respect to old
persons" (Thomas Petrie,
Reminis–
cences of Early Queensland).
The Peasant People of Yugo-
slavia:
"While children may marry
and leave the parental home, they
seldom go very far-and almost
always one of the offspring remains
at borne to care for . the aging par–
ents" (Kessler,
Human Behavior).
An Arab student in Lebanon:
"'There is no greater disgrace than
to abandon the old'"
(The Family).
The Bedouin:
"Among the Bed–
ouin, young men are expected to
defer to the older generation at all
times ..."
(ibid).
The Rajput of India:
" Rajput
women must cover tbeir heads with
tbeir saris when an elder enters tbe
room"
(ibid).
lmmigrants and minorities in the
Uniled States:
"Similarly, students
of immigrants point to the value of
the extended family (or clan) in
providing day care for children and
ministering to the health needs of the
elderly. lndeed, there are proportion–
ately few blacks and Puerto Ricans
in nursing homes" (
Current ,
April,
1977).
.
Japan:
"The Japanese consider it
their natural duty to care for and
support an ill or feeble parent;
throughout the Orient, to neglect a
parent orto leave a parent in the care
of strangers is to disgrace the family
name"
(The Adult Years).
China:
"Chinese pbilosopher Lin
Yutang wrote a few decades ago:
'How can one be thought wise unless
one is thought to be old? ... there is
no shame attached to the circum–
stance of one's being served by his
children in the sunset of one's life . ..
The symphony of life should end with
a grand finale of peace and serenity
and material comfort and spiritual
The
PLAIN TRUTH