I don't think it's fair to point at a particular religion. Our Muslims are no less either these days. The way people treat their parents shock me at times. I know someone who hit their parents because they wouldn't give their son the entire property ( they had other kids too). Sadly enough the father passed away 4 weeks ago. The son has NO regret of how he treated his father. The son didn't spend a single penny ( even though he is very much capable of doing so) on the father's khatam/ jumraat. Infact it was the daughter and nephews who did.
I was thinking about something a few days ago and funny how I saw this thread just 5-10 mins ago. When we're little our parents don't mind cleaning us up, dressing us up or feeding us. I've seen parents who are happy to take care of their teenage disabled children. What they do for us is very very special. Us children born in the West could never do that for them :) Unfortunately no matter how much we deny this I don't think we could half of what they do for us :)
Its not right to pick or any one particular religion. Mind you. Its the new generation who wants to have their own freedom and dont listen to their parents. Hence they put them in these homes and there are some kids who dont even bother to pay a visit to their parents. Whereas on the other hand there are some people who still love their parents and would never think of sending them to such OLD HOMES. So this trend is not only in Christians its all about this new generation who has changed alot.
In the west, the most cherished and developed of "desirable" personal traits is that of independence. People raise their children to be completely independent,self-assured and self-reliant. We raise our children to persue their dreams.
Theres really nothing that could ever convince me to ever impose myself on my children in my old age. I worked, I provided for myself with a 401K, I will have social security and NEVER EVER EVER would I ever live with my kids, ask them for money or askthem to take care of me.
I do not critisize when I hear of Pakistani parents demanding that their children take care of their every want and need. To me as a westerner, its an extremely selfish and demanding way of life...like hey lets have kids so that they can pay our way in old age. But different cultures have different aspirations and practices.
Some do it to avoid caring for their parents; most do it because when their parents reach a certain age proper care is beyond their capabilities. When you visit such a place, you realize tha family visits are often frequent…
The misconceptions in these recent Christian threads is just mind boggling.
Time and time again, I've seen Pakistanis refuse to accept the differences in western ideology. The title of this thread should be "western", not christian.
Its the parents not the children who decide what they want to do and where they want to live. And unless the parent is mentally incapable of making decisions and declared as such by the courts, the children have absolutely no say in their parents'matters. Parents in the west plan for their retirement so that they will never burden their children.
Its a different way of life, a different culture. But its a mistake to delude yourself into thinking that western children dump their aging parents into nursing homes.
The easiest way to avoid an old home is to be financially independent at any age, this is entirely possible, if you worked for 40 odd years you should have saved some & learn how to invest.
