A rising tide of teenagers reject this fallacy. Here, for the sake of all who sense a call to greatness beyond the mediocrity society expects, I have penned The Adult Manifesto. This is not a document for those recognised by society as adults. This is a document for those molley-coddled by society, disparagingly labelled "teenagers", deemed incompetent, insignificant, and merely passing time.
The Adult Manifesto
1) The first and foremost aspect of adulthood is that our word means something. We take responsibility to make our yes mean yes and our no mean no. We recognise that western society has promoted many wimps and liars to adulthood, and so we will not naively take all others at their word. But our word carries weight, for we mean what we say and we say what we mean, and we stick to our commitments when the going gets tough.
2) We reject the notion that random Evolutionary forces demand of us a decade of uncertainty, indecisiveness and frivolity. We have powerful, purposeful and significant things to accomplish for our world and our communities, whether those recognised as adults will aid us or not.
3) We recognise our self-worth before God and do not need the approval of others young or old. We are glad for approval when it comes from others we respect, but we do not rely on their approval or the approval of any humans for our sense of self worth.
4) We derive pleasure and deep satisfaction from knowing that our contribution to society is meaningful and significant. Our life is worth more than pointless binge drinking each weekend.
5) We recognise our minds as creative and powerful. Mindless entertainment may be amusing from time to time, but does not define us or our way of life.
6) We believe that adulthood is not a function of sexual maturity nor the mere passage of time, but is a calling before God. We actively embrace that calling with delight. Borrowing from traditional cultures which have gone before, we recognise that a male may attain adulthood as young as thirteen years of age.
7) We recognise that responsibility is a powerful gift. There can be no power to benefit others without a corresponding power to harm. We are glad to have our skills developed and our capacities stretched and increased as we exercise increasing responsibility for the benefit of those around us.
8) We reject the notion that new is inherently better than old. We actively solicit the input of our seniors and those who have gone before, not because their perspective is necessarily right, but because we can learn much from their experience and avoid their mistakes. We are doomed to repeat past follies if we do not learn anything from those who have gone before.
9) We recognise the concept of authority as having a legitimate place in the organisation of societies. We do not recognise all purported authorities, but we do recognise that there are legitimate authorities, necessary for the good of society, and we willingly submit ourselves to their jurisdiction. We are not revolutionaries seeking to overthrow society, but rather strategic visionaries seeking to repair it's gaping holes.
