Do you feel anxiety about the decline of religion?

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It seems as if developed countries, foremost, are being critically hit by the growth of secularism. The traditional worldview of Judeo-Christianity in Europe and North America is becoming viewed as “bigoted,” “medieval,” and “naive” by our younger generations.

I’ve not heard about it much on CAF, but is this trend reversible? Am I the only one who seems to be worried?
 
EphelDuath said:
It seems as if developed countries, foremost, are being critically hit by the growth of secularism. The traditional worldview of Judeo-Christianity in Europe and North America is becoming viewed as “bigoted,” “medieval,” and “naive” by our younger generations.

I’ve not heard about it much on CAF, but is this trend reversible? Am I the only one who seems to be worried?
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I’m very worried about it as well. We seem to have our work cut out for us, seeing as preconceived stereotypes like “bigoted” and “anti-women” have already seeped into the public mindset. Despite that, Christ promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against his Church, so even though the world may be against us, we will always have each other.
 
Perhaps I do feel a little anxiety over this issue. However, I am reminded of Old Testament’s frequent mention of a “remnant” which continues to be faithful to God and pass on the faith. Even if our numbers shrink, I see ourselves as the modern day “remnant”. However, it is the power of God that makes the remnant strong.

Also, it is easy to see God’s work in what we see as good or successful. However, God is also right there working through the bad. He is ALWAYS with us. THANKS BE TO GOD FOR THIS! In this way, His glory will provide hope in “hopeless” times. Thus, our faith must remain rooted in Him and His Truth and not entirely on worldly numbers and by what we humanly “see”. Remember that the church was founded on much smaller numbers than we find now.

Finally, anxiety is the work of the devil in order to make us doubt the power of God and lessen our trust in Him. A good quote to remember which I believe comes from Mother Teresa, “God does not ask us to be successful, but He asks us to be faithful.”

Hope this helps. God bless and keep you!
stteresasgirl
 
It’s not even a new worry. John Henry Newman worried deeply about the great Apostasia and Infidelity he witnessed in his own age. He prophesied that it would greatly increase in the coming years. That is why John Henry Newman is such an important voice for our own times. 😦
 
I watched Abundant Life the other day on EWTN, Dr. Benjamin Wiker was on it with Johnette and he and Dr. Scott Hahn have co-authored a book titled:
Answering the New Atheism: Dismantling Dawkins Case Against God, they both have written other
awesome books too, such as, Dr. Benjamin Wiker has also co-authored with William Dembski:
Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists. You probably know a lot about Dr. Scott Hahn if you watch EWTN at all, all his books are very awesome.

Dr. Wiker talked about how Dr. Hahn had began to notice the same trend among our young people that you are speaking of. Their books offer much hope in this area.

In addition to pheonix’s remark about the gates of hell never prevailing and stteresasgirl’s quote from Mother Teresa about how God does not ask us to be successful, but He asks us to be faithful, we also have this from John Paul II, “BE NOT AFRAID” and in the Mass itself we say…"as we wait in joyful hope…

Read up!! (If you can’t afford them, and if your library doesn’t have them, ask for them, they’ll get them.) They ought to be putting these books, as well as ones by the Saints in all our Catholic Colleges, High Schools and other places.👍

…Not to mention the Pope’s encyclicals that can be found at:
www.vatican.va
 
I do feel anxious. It seems that a lot of atheists these days are village atheists arrogant about their beliefs. Its really a nuisance having theism regarded an idiotic superstition rather than at least a flawed philosophy.

As for society it’s nothing worse than we’ve experienced before. Anyone who has studied Roman Culture will know that there was more sex, more violence, and more sin in general than modern secularized culture,yet Christianity still thrived in that.
 
I witness a great deal of outward signs in persons that often disturb me greatly. But before I can allow anxiety or worry to take hold, I have to remind myself that those individuals are in the state they are because of many factors, sin being the chief factor involved, as well as others only known by God Himself.

The apparent triumphs of modernism and liberalism are also great factors that are responsible for many thought patterns of a given individual. This latter situation is possibly the most responsible for many turning away from God. It is easier to flip a switch and hear what one wants to hear, rather than actually work at achieving understanding through the very channel it originates from. I stress the word “work” here. It is a basic human fault, and we have all been guilty of it at one time or another. We are generally lazy creatures that often rely on our own erroneous understandings and write it off as ignorance. I see this ignorance as sometimes unavoidable, but am very disturbed when others insist on practicing errors, even after they have at least some wisdom of understanding the Truth. It is known as being obstinate, and there are more souls that go to hell just by that fault alone.

There are many that say they are “alright:” with God (which is often fortified by their pastors (both Catholic and Protestant) and the errors they may teach. This presumptuous attitude, although I am never one to judge, often manifests itself in great despair when the individual needs God the most. They expect an “instant” miracle to be presented to them. If their expectations fail, they will likely turn to other comforts to appease that which they believe is missing in their lives. They tend to either take religion lightly, or treat it as a “duty” to others, or worst, as a show of some sort to gain the approval of others. More atheists are formed by this manner of reasoning than any deep psychosis can produce.
With such attitudes abound, one should always thank God that they are aware of the situation, continue on the path of sanctity, and defend the Faith with all of their body and soul.

It is our duty as well to be concerned with the salvation of others. There is no lack of helpful information when it comes to the Catholic Church, and once the person is informed, it is up to them as to what path they take. The Grace of God is paramount in the whole scheme, and that must always be taken into consideration. We can really only be concerned with our own salvation, and attempt to help others the best we can. We cannot save them ourselves.

One can only do so much, but even the smallest gesture should always be done with charity and patience. If one is rejected, one should simply be resigned to that rejection and resort to prayer. God has plans for each of our lives, but unwarranted fear and anxiety, although useful in some situations, is probably not one of them. Dominus Vobiscum.
 
I don’t worry about it. This is how God separates the wheat from the chaff. This is all according to His plan. And this has all been foretold. And, as soldiers of Christ, it means we have no shortage of targets! The opportunities for leading people to Christ are limitless! But we have to use our full arsenal, from love arrows to deadly arrows, and have the wisdom to know when to use them. Lord, give me wisdom! :bowdown:
 
The future seems bleak, for the reason that religion has come to be associated with superstition rather than science or philosophy. This is one of the most insulting ironies I have ever encountered. It was the Catholics who brought the western world out of superstitious darkness. We were the first major religion to advocate a regular systematic view of the universe. The spread of Christianity led to the rise of the empirical method in the western world, but now scientists have turned their back on us.

Today in the eyes of the public science is by de facto atheistic. This is absurd and one of the major reasons that countries are becoming secularized. I have no doubt that the US is next.

What caused the intellectuals to abandon God? Well I think we can trace that back to the reformation. Luther wrote that reason is opposed to faith sealing the fate of his protestant movement. By succesfully starting a movement that defied the Church he also started this rebellious atmosphere that still lasts to this day. An atmosphere telling people that you can abandon long established orders of society and still be sucessful.

During the Enlightenment the enlighteners knowing that they could destroy long established societal orders looked at these denominations, bickering over reasonless faith, and associated all religion including us with the fideists, and decided to abandon God altogether envisioning a society without our morals. Deism died out making atheism the de facto “intellectual” ideology. Of course these enligthenment ideals didn’t get accepted by the masses until the 60’s but in only 40 years were already feeling the brunt of secularization.
 
I’m concerned about the fact that our Country is not considered a Christian nation any longer, as reported by our new President. What does that say about us, our image to the rest of the world. What are we if not Christian? Is this just his opinion? I pray so, but where is the outrage from all Christians? Surely there are a few left. The non-believers have gotten the right of way lately and it appears it’s going to get worse…they are not even the majority,but it’s not the minority that is ruling.
From a personal, more close to home stand point, the homilies we hear and have heard for the past 12 years, are always the same,read scripted and with no feeling. The intensity that our pastors once felt seems dimineshed…We attend Mass but leave church unmoved. We hear almost the same thing we heard the year before. We have 4 or 5 missionaries visiting,and we actually look forward to them and their messages. Not to mention the fact that our pastor is gone on vaction (or whatever he’s calling it) 3 or 4 times a year for 4-6 weeks at a time. The neighboring pastor uses the same homily scripts.
While visiting out of state on vacation, we were so moved by the pastor of the church where we attended Mass. When he began his homily, there were no papers to read from, no script. He spoke from his heart and even my teenagers were impressed and we actually discussed his words over dinner…a first for us…
The whole thing saddens me.
 
It deeply concerns me. I gleaned from posts on a popular online site that people believe that more deaths have been caused by religion than any other movement or institution in the world.

A few months ago, regular members noted the profound bigotry by other members who went so far as wishing the death of Christians in our country. There was no disciplining of those who wrote such comments as well.

Now many believe as well that medical professionals should be forced to hand out pharmaceuticals or perform medical procedures that violate one’s conscience. Those who speak out in defense of conscience are not able make their voices effectively heard.

The media creates alot of bad feeling among people, as what happened with the police officer and the Gates case on the East Coast. It seems that the non-believers have the ball in their court. They have their pool of highly informed and effective debaters to trounce on the next forthcoming newcomer who tries to uphold the sanctity of human life or the existence of God for that matter, usually without the defense of any other believer.

Furthermore, you vote for some cause on the internet, and soon you have others contacting you to make your voice heard to your Congressman or state rep on many causes, to the point it is overwhelming.

But I recall the requests of Our Lady of Fatima, the Gospels’ means of prayer and fasting, and being a daily witness to those around us. And the efficacy of going to Daily Mass and building bridges of dialogue and kindness to those who don’t think like we do. We offer it up to God and He magnifies our small offerings.

I think the bottom line is we need to do something about our world situation, but in a way that is effective and prudent, and especially hold our young and old and the vulnerable as our primary concerns.
 
“I think the bottom line is we need to do something about our world situation, but in a way that is effective and prudent, and especially hold our young and old and the vulnerable as our primary concerns.” I completely agree.

As for the decline of religion, I do not feel it is quite what it seems. This is a time when all of the parochial world views up to this time held within a relatively isolated cultural context, are clashing on a global scale. This has been building for some time, but now with the advent of instant world wide communications, the inter-net, and a greater freedom of travel than ever before, we are at last being faced with an inescapable realization. That is that other people think very differently than we do. If you are bilingual, you already know this. Or if you have undergone a radical change in your life, such as combat service, or a catastrophic health situation, or financial loss. You know experientially that those who have not had your experience have a radically less experienced understanding than do you in your field of change.

This can give you some idea of the difference that people experience in different religions when they meet with other belief systems. The other people just don’t get it. And why should they? All of these religionists, including us, are completely convinced that there way is right, sometimes for much the same reasons we are: direct succession form the Founder of whatever they practice.

Now one of the most remarkable things that a human is able to do is to abstract themselves from their own situation and consider it as if ti were a phenomenon they are to some degree dispassionate about. I feel that a lot of people who are “leaving” religions are actually doing something quite different. The are capable of looking around themselves and saying that “OK, I believe this because I grew up with it and it makes perfect sense within its own context. But my way is clearly not the only way that people are capable of believing. There are many things in our experience that are the same throughout the world, such as gravity, engineering techniques, and many cross cultural behaviors that appear to be “wired in.” So, is there a set of Universally applicable understandings, or understandings I don’t “get” that may have bearing on my spiritual well being?” And indeed there are many areas of overlap in many religions.

There are even ways of understanding God that were never served to us for consideration that ultimately are not contrary to Christianity, or even Catholicism, though they are to some degree unfamiliar. But I think what is happening is that many people are living from a wider understanding of the ways that we relate to God. They are not abandoning morals, or faith, or any such thing. Because they see in a more universal way, perhaps for them their faith is even increased or deepened in a new way. I think that maybe that is what is happening.

Bindar Doondat, FZPC
 
We indeed live in an information society, and subsequently people take alot longer time in American/internet culture to grow up…

Issue, though, is God’s time is not our time…and the fragility of life speaks all the time in the information world…freak accidents, otherwise healthy people finding out they have only so many months to live, loosing a child who had so much potential, so much benevolence…

I think there is also a great need for Catholics and people of faith to re-encounter Christ, to renounce self, to live in Him and through their own humanity, to pray He will live through them.

It is so easy to attach ourselves to the exterior of religion, the formalities, everything just right, while the soul and heart hunger for Him…the Messiah and Savior…not just of ourselves, but of the world.

Christ had us look into our empty hearts when He asked…When I return, will there be any faith left…what is faith…We can’t control it but we can empty ourselves in faith for Him to enter in, to live, and to extend outward back into the world…
 
I feel some anxiety about the decline of faith in Jesus Christ generally, and the decline of Catholic faith specifically, but there is really no decline in religion. I don’t say that to be a nit-picker but simply to point out that mankind is religious by nature and what has been happening is a replacement of Christianity in the West with a variety of religions, some more obvious than others. A glaring example is the Oprah new-age religion. But even those who claim no religion and no God either worship at the altar of secular humanism via science and technology or at the other end of the spectrum are pure hedonists, worshipping at the altar of sensual gratification. There are also great numbers of people, many in the environmental movements that have essentially a neo-pagan worship of the planet Mother Earth, perhaps without even recognizing it. And not to be forgotten is the influx of traditional eastern religions and the world-wide expansion of Islam.

The only real question is what do we as Catholics do about it. Is it possible to argue someone into the Kingdom of God? No. Can we rely on the media for the real story? Of course not. Are there great homilists that can persuade people? Not many, and on their own they cannot change the course of history.

Why would anyone want to be Christian in the first place? Why would anyone want to be Catholic? Why would fallen away Catholics want to come home? There is nothing we can do or say to make that happen.

The only way that any one person, or many people will repent of sin and turn to Jesus Christ is if the Holy Spirit works in their hearts and convicts them of their sin. And when they are ready, it doesn’t take a great speaker, although sometimes that happens, nor does it take a great apologist, although that happens too. It takes us being ready to lead them by the hand to the Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what do we do? We spend as much time as physically possible on our knees begging and pleading with the Father, in the name of Jesus the Son, to send the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of our family and neighbors, our cities and towns, our country; to bring people in repentance to God, one heart, one soul at a time. We need to forget ourselves in this cause. We need to storm heaven, enlist the aid of all of the saints and angels to pray for this cause. We need to fast for this cause. We need to offer every little bit of our suffering for this cause. We must continue on our knees for our brothers and sisters until the Holy Spirit stirs their hearts so that they cannot rest until the seek out forgiveness and reconciliation with God. And we must not be surprised by the unlikely instruments God uses to accomplish this great revival of faith. The ones we think will be the great evangelizers may not be at all. And we must be ready and willing to be used by God for the salvation of even one soul, if not many, but if only one our time was well spent.

Remember this. There is no problem in our homes, no problem in our towns and cities or country, no problem in our Church, no problem in our seminaries, no problem in the priesthood or episcopate; no problem that we face today that would not be healed or cured by a great awakening in the hearts of people and a widespread personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can talk ourselves blue about issues, but most of that fades into the background when the Holy Spirit starts moving in a great way in the hearts and minds of a people.

“You have not, because you ask not.” We have to start asking for this. It is the only way back from the edge of the cliff where we now are perched. And we have to search our own hearts every day as well, repent of our own sins, and speak the truth in love at every opportunity.

And we don’t have to wait for leadership on this. What we can do, we can do now. As long as we don’t care about who gets the credit, great things will happen, and we will give all the glory to God, which is rightfully his anyway. Those leaders who are in the way, God will move aside or go over. Those leaders who recognize the work of the Holy Spirit when they see a movement of repentance, will pitch in to help. One leader who will recognize and welcome this is Benedict XVI. If one looks closely at his various messages while visiting the United States, especially those to young people, he often speaks of the necessity of personal repentance and personal faith.

So this decline we see is not set in stone. It is reversible, if we ask God to reverse it, and don’t stop asking. Repentance is not popular, but the Holy Spirit can change that, if we ask him to do so.
 
It’s not so much the decline of religion… that’s a symptom of other problems. We’ve become unhinged as a society from reason. The great irony is that the “new atheists” trumpet reason as their byword, yet are blinded by irreligious fervor from actually USING reason instead of worshiping it. Now we see evil called good and good called evil. When you become detached from reality, logic, and reason, words no longer have any concrete meaning and things like … oh… marriage, for example, can be defined to mean anything (and nothing).

I don’t fear for myself. I do fear for all these people who are duped by this idiocy and may find themselves separated from God for all eternity. I also fear for my children, who will doubtless have a more difficult time than we did.

Were I not a Christian, I’d despair. Fortunately, I happen to know despair is a sin 👍
 
I just finished reading a book on the origins of the Mass. People in the first 300 years could loose their lives for revealing their hidden life as Christians. They were the tiny minority then, but the faith was spreading rapidly throughout the world.

When I read about the various times of the Church and its people, there were definite counter witnesses to Christ and His church, so I wonder about the quality and merit of their faith when the Western world was primarily Catholic. We can’t judge by outward appearances.

Catholics seem to be the minority of Christians, in part because our relating to faith isn’t as emotional. We do live in an evangelical Protestant culture.

I got my daughter a book on the art of Italian eating. The book celebrates the family and whatever good has happened that day to members of the family. The joy of living…Catholic and integrated with family and life…She lost her Catholic faith and married an evangelical because of the counter witness she saw among Catholics when we moved to another state. Their marriage was focused on Christ and His gospel…Christ without the Church. The spouse and his family are very devout, sincere, and educated and we dialogue. I have faith we will all be one some day…at the Mass.
 
The reason that developed coutries seem to be becoming secular is because the more you have, the less you “need” G-d. The poor and the destitute only have one person to rest on, and that’s G-d.
 
True. And they are happier as well.

To follow Christ and seek perfection, sell all you have…

I think S. Francis of Assisi would be a great help to the modern world.
 
I personally, feel quite the contrary…

I do see a sort of ‘war’ going on between secularism and religion though…like, I can see how its seems like the odds are stacked up against us…but…its not ‘hopeless’ by far…for someone thats always been religious they might think, that, idk- and im talking about here in america, the west, they might think that religion is on the decline…the obama administration and the whole radical abortion thing…gay marriage all over the news…i’m in school and the way they teach in public schools…its true everything is soo…anti- religious…

but for someone like me…i see the other side…im around nothing but non-religious kinda people…really, you might consider them dreggs of society …lol… whatever …those are just the people i’ve always been around…and look at me now…i returned to the catholic church, and with vigor… more passion than if i had always been in the church im sure…because ive seen firsthand this immoral lifestyle…its like instead of taking it on ‘faith’ i fully entrust myself into the belief on experience…i know what God says is right and true because i’ve seen the lies exposed, you know what i mean??? and no one trying to convert me could have…it was like a higher calling…something bigger than me saying ‘come home’ sorry if it sounds cliche’…

but my point is, im not the only one…a lot of people i know are starting to talk about things that they werent concerned with before…talking about things in a different way…and not because they went to church…something inside them is making them care-

just recently we had that vote here in california for same sex marriage…i went to vote with a group (some college students, some my friends) …all different ethnicities, backgrounds, religions…totally different agendas going on and we never discussed our opinions until after we came out…kinda like ‘so what’d ya vote on??’

and i was shocked to see that we all voted against same sex marriage…just one little example … something bigger is starting to unite us…you might not see it from where you are…but…i think where it matters most, where people need it the most…changes are happening…
 
I just smile at the super-intellectual professional atheists who spend their entire lives fighting a God that they claim does not even exist.

It’s hardly a good philosophy to prove great intellegence

I’m more apt to belong to the Fulton Sheen school of debate with them. When they’d attack the Church, he’d ask them, “What is your sin that you so hate God and His Church?”

Not surprisingly, he got a lot of converts that way.

(Even Satan accepts God’s existence. He just doesn’t want you to know that God lives as does he.)
 
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