I would prefer to live in the past because the world we live in is getting more and more messed up with each year that passes. The rainforests are being cut down, global warming is melting the ice caps, we've imported damn near everything we own from China, all sorts of strange substances being put in our food, Iran has nuclear weapons, farm animals are artificially inseminated while women kill their own children and call it "planned parenthood"...
This clearly isn't how God intended man to live. 2012 is coming and I hope He's going to teach us all an important lesson.
We may have been less civilized and less technologically advanced in the 18th and 19th centuries, but I've got to give my ancestors a little credit for not ruining the planet (even if it was just due to the fact that they couldn't). Especially the Cherokee ancestors, I need to find out who those are. They knew (and still know) how to live in harmony with nature, much better than the modern, totally-spoiled-on-technology white man. (I highly respect the Amish for this same reason) Protecting nature is the most important thing because whether we choose to believe it or not, it is our lifeblood.
The James Cameron movie
Avatar takes place in a 22nd-century future where Earth has become barren and inhospitable, but to be brutally honest, I think man will never even make it that far into the future if he does not change his ways. What we need is a
The Day The Earth Stood Still courtesy of the great Lord who I bet was happier with the way we lived when He was here two millennia ago. Klaatu ain't got nothing on JESUS!