Do we feel pressure to conform to pop culture's "norms?" and Why?

[ManOnFire]

Some people say they can’t / won’t follow the Church’s rules because of **pressure to conform to pop culture’s “norms.” **Who are these unelected strangers with microphones? They’re nobody. Now who’s close minded? We went from Church’s Norms to pop culture’s Norms. What a regression! Now we can be peer pressured into the individual selfishness of seeking stimulation of the pleasure centers of our brains via shallow amusements, drugs, gasms, gambling, food, violence instead of deep romantic love. Unbelievable.

 

[St_Francis]

Some people say they can’t / won’t follow the Church’s rules because of **pressure to conform to pop culture’s “norms.” **Who are these unelected strangers with microphones? They’re nobody. Now who’s close minded? We went from Church’s Norms to pop culture’s Norms. What a regression! Now we can be peer pressured into the individual selfishness of seeking stimulation of the pleasure centers of our brains via shallow amusements, drugs, gasms, gambling, food, violence instead of deep romantic love. Unbelievable.

It’s part of the human condition, and when the society is not infused with the Faith, then it will naturally gravitate towards the illicit. With the current attitude of superiority of the secularists, we are doubly tempted to conform.

 

[1ke]

I don’t know who the ‘we’ is you are referring to.

I don’t give a flying cr*p what pop culture or society’s norms are.

 

[Pug]

I think humans seem to show a sensitivity to what the group thinks is right and wrong. Like when we are children and all we really know is our parents think X is bad. We wish to please them, so we don’t do X. Fitting in that way is somewhat helpful to children. I suspect we retain the trait into adulthood.

We are a bunch of sheep who need a shepherd. Jesus is it. We are pretty stupid sheep, though, and get confused. We wander around and bleat a lot.

 

[ManOnFire]

The mainstream media and education is far too political and pressures individuals into conformity. How ironic. I doubt that a conservative will be chosen for a movie part when the puppetmasters at the top expect conformity to THEIR values. I know some conservative teachers in public schools. Wow, what a hypocrisy and tragedy of justice that is. So much for tolerance and the world being big enough for “all diffferent views.”

 

[Aboveallbereal]

The reality is that in Western Europe ( I live in Ireland ) Christianity both in its practicend its beliefs is counter cultural. The dominant culture is humanist, atheist or at least atheist leaning agnostic, and materialist. Against this backdrop it can be difficult to deny the appeal of “fitting in”. I feel it. I sometimes give in to it.

In Ireland most people in their 20s and 30s revile the Church. The abuse scandal only liberating the built up hate they feel. I work in an environment in which excoriating and denouncing anything remotely catholic is the lunchtime norm…I admit appearing with ashes was a torment because I want to be accepted.

 

[_L]

We feel that pressure because human beings were meant to live together in a group, a family, and we want to be “in harmony” with others, people take that to the extent of doing morally objectionable things if it means they will fit in.

 

[Aboveallbereal]

We feel that pressure because human beings were meant to live together in a group, a family, and we want to be “in harmony” with others, people take that to the extent of doing morally objectionable things if it means they will fit in.

I would finesse your point somewhat L. I don’t think people do “moraly objectionable things” to fit in. What we do however in the face of the assumption that “all right thinking people” are at best no catholic and quite normally anti catholic is stay silent, evade, avoid discussion etc.

 

[Maria65]

The older I get, the less I care what others think of me. I don’t go around trying to provoke arguments but, at the same time, I try to treat people the way I want to be treated, and I make no apologies for my faith and my morals. If people accuse me of being uncool or politically incorrect or whatever, I take that as a compliment - it means I am doing something right.

 

[ManOnFire]

The reality is that in Western Europe ( I live in Ireland ) Christianity both in its practicend its beliefs is counter cultural. The dominant culture is humanist, atheist or at least atheist leaning agnostic, and materialist. Against this backdrop it can be difficult to deny the appeal of “fitting in”. I feel it. I sometimes give in to it.

In Ireland most people in their 20s and 30s revile the Church. The abuse scandal only liberating the built up hate they feel. I work in an environment in which excoriating and denouncing anything remotely catholic is the lunchtime norm…I admit appearing with ashes was a torment because I want to be accepted.

I hope and pray that one day you will find a Catholic to marry who really “gets it.” U.S. singer Billy Ray Cyrus had a song that said “Some girls don’t like boys like me. Ohh, but some girls do.” We live for the triumphs. We don’t live for the failures.

The characterization by the general public (I’m not picking on you) that “Catholicism is counter cultural” is proof that we have worshipped the false god of pop culture for far too long and possibly have not realized it. Otherwise, we would be saying that “culture is counter-Catholic.”

 

[lil_flower_luv]

We feel that pressure because human beings were meant to live together in a group, a family, and we want to be “in harmony” with others, people take that to the extent of doing morally objectionable things if it means they will fit in.

That’s right. And that’s why I feel like Catholic Youth Groups are on the rise. Humans can have their groups and live in harmony with each other and our Lord.