How sinful and evil must the world be before you view it as corrupt and miserable?

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"The death of the just: Death will reach everyone, the good and the bad; but the destiny of each one is quite different. The just man sees himself in this valley of tears as a prisoner, serving a very hard term. He considers himself a slave in this world, suffering an extremely distressing servitude. He regards himself a sailor caught in a horrible storm. And as death means an end of his confinement, an end of his slavery, and is the port of his salvation, he ceases not to cry with David, ‘Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged!’ (Ps. 119:5)… He ceases not to ask with the Apostle’… Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom. 7:24)”
-The Golden Key to Heaven, by Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee to we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
 
Corrupt, yes, but miserable, no.

Of course the world is corupt, but it is also God’s wonderful creation and we are called to enjoy it. The world is a beautiful, wonderful place and we ought to appreciate it as such.
 
Robert_Sock said:
"The death of the just: Death will reach everyone, the good and the bad; but the destiny of each one is quite different. The just man sees himself in this valley of tears as a prisoner, serving a very hard term. He considers himself a slave in this world, suffering an extremely distressing servitude. He regards himself a sailor caught in a horrible storm. And as death means an end of his confinement, an end of his slavery, and is the port of his salvation, he ceases not to cry with David, ‘Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged!’ (Ps. 119:5)… He ceases not to ask with the Apostle’… Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom. 7:24)”
-The Golden Key to Heaven, by Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee to we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
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I do not think it depends on how sinful or evil the world is but it is more how the Church responds to it. If the Church does not respond than it is the Church that might have determined a better outcome.
 
I was shocked after I saw the results of this poll. I’m the guy who created the thread “how is virtue possible in a sinful world” and I’m the only answerer so far who answered “yes, but only somewhat.”

Irony.

My reason: the world was built absolutely pure as God intended. By original sin, our nature is distorted. When man finds his God, he frees himself from the corruption and misery of a society which promotes sin. God is still present in this world, so it can’t be entirely corrupt and miserable as long as people are willing to reject the world.
 
I also voted somewhat so you are not the only one.

I think though we are nearing a saturation point of corruption as its tentacles have extended into all aspects of life including politics,the legal system,and medical system.they are all intricately entwined, and dominated by people who were educated in a corrupt system that is falling away from a belief in God and trusting completely in science or what they can see with their eyes.

I am reminded of an obscure prophecy by St Bridget that states"in the year 1980 evil will prevail" What happened at that time to change the world so drastically?
 
cjforJesus said:
I also voted somewhat so you are not the only one.

I think though we are nearing a saturation point of corruption as its tentacles have extended into all aspects of life including politics,the legal system,and medical system.they are all intricatly entwined and dominated by people who were educated in a corrupt system that is falling away from a belief in God and trusting completely in science or what they can see with their eyes.

I am reminded of an obscure prophecy by St Bridget that states"in the year 1980 evil will prevail" What happened at that time to change the world so drastically?
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Reagan? Sorry!
 
I’m not certain how decadent the world would have to get for me to think that, but I don’t think we are even close. If you look through history, there are eras I would view as far worse than today…the 24 hour news cycle just assures that we hear about every single negative thing that happens worldwide.

If I were to guess I suppose it would involve mass, and I mean mass genocide, wars of conquest all over the planet and the fall of democratic style systems…just for a starter.
 
cjforJesus said:
I also voted somewhat so you are not the only one.

I think though we are nearing a saturation point of corruption as its tentacles have extended into all aspects of life including politics,the legal system,and medical system.they are all intricately entwined, and dominated by people who were educated in a corrupt system that is falling away from a belief in God and trusting completely in science or what they can see with their eyes.

I am reminded of an obscure prophecy by St Bridget that states"in the year 1980 evil will prevail" What happened at that time to change the world so drastically?
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I am with this poster and the OP - “Only Somewhat.”

I admit to some bursts of flat-out despair from time to time. Upon reflection though, take a look that the O.T. Many times these sorts of social evils arose then and when it seemed that God had been" ejected" from the world, well, there He was. Saving His people again. Maybe in our short-sightedness we have to come to a realization that we are in deep trouble before turning back to God. This seems to be one of those times. If we look at the past many years and what the Popes have been teaching and thinking through with the assistance of the Bishops, we are having a powerful call just now from our Supreme Pastor. PP John 23 refocused us on being a loving church, which PP. Paul 6 supported and clarified. Further clarification and theological and intellectual support of the magisterium happened with Popes John Paul 2 and Pope Benedict. Accompanying that is a real consistency in teaching from the local church - moreso than I have seen in my lifetime. Now we have a Pope who is tying up the threads and leading us into what we are really supposed to be as Church - knowing, loving and serving God and each other. What is so bad about that!?
 
I’m not sure why, but throughout my childhood I became very familiar with cynicism. In my 20’s my dear friend used to share with me his cynicism and pessimism and then he’d say, "So what? The world has always been a disappointment to others so let’s not try for optimism but rather an “enlightened optimism”.

The world is hopeless so let’s continue to take some stabs at HOPE, not because we think we can change it all but because a sad, weary world needs recognition of JOY, HOPE, HAPPINESS. Because there is something more than this world and we need to remember, experience, and shine the light on the good things that come from God.

OOPS! My enlightened optimism is showing.
 
When I pray about the corruption and misery, it is usually about a specific situation that is so tragic that it makes me weep. I wonder at how corrupt and miserable the world is, yet time and time again, I see the beauty of Truth, fidelity and God’s hand in many ways which remind me that The Light can never be extinguished. I have a choice, look for misery and corruption, be depressed and give up, or look for where God has sent his Christ-lights to bring comfort and relief. On the latter point, that is usually accompanied by a call to give of myself in prayer, thanks, living the faith or blessing. God promised never to abandon us, so there is always hope, truth and goodness.

Well, that is just my view. So my answer (if I remember the options) is yes, somewhat.
 
Yes, the world is corrupt, but it kind of ebbs and flows… the 20th century saw Stalin an dHitle kill millions of folks. It had Rwanda, and King Leopold ravage Africa… but it also saw the beginning of the end of much racism with the civil rights movement and the end of apartied, the near end of Communism in Russia… We now have Somalia, Darfur, North Korea and a few other nasty areas, and some other may heat up. As long as there is greed, pride, discrimination, and other deadly sins, there will be someone to exploit and corrupt others.

Some areas of the world have come a long way to become more civil and peaceful, but we are not there yet. Satan still has a lot of influence, people still believe in abortion, atheism is actually growing stronger in America and probably in Europe. Some folks believe a Godless world would somehow be better, they can not be more wrong.
 
How sinful and evil must the world be before you view it as corrupt and miserable?
 
Robert_Sock said:
How sinful and evil must the world be before you view it as corrupt and miserable?
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It is already corrupt and miserable in many places, BUT it is fairly decent in some places, AND we can do much to make it less corrupt and less miserable IF we work to make it so, One individual can not help everybody, BUT we can help one or a few, and that is what all of us should do.
 
Polycarp1 said:
Can you find 10 good men?
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In this world…it would be tough! this reminds me of what Billy Graham once said, “If God does not destroy America, he will have to apologize to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah”.

I agree our world is completely corrupt, a person would be hard pressed to find ANY city that is not over run with corruption, but we must remember God allows this, as Satan is the reason why all this happens, and God is the one who continually allows Satan and the other fallen angels to have the powers they have, and continually be able to influence mankind.

It also makes me wonder about the big picture, what can be said of a world that consistently sins, and chooses lives without God in it? It seems to me a great majority of people have sided with Satan over God, they may not go about worshiping him, but they are greedy, worship money, materialistic items, etc. so in a way, they are worshiping the devil openly, Just the fact that a major percentage of people choose the dark side MUST have some influence on God.

I know some will disagree, but it does me question whether God or Satan is ‘winning’ in the race for souls, what would it mean if only a very small percentage of Gods people actually choose to live a Godly life? seems like that alone would send Satans ego thru the roof.
 
Wanting to say something positive, I am reminded of a quote from Thomas Merton:
“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness… This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud… I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
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I am no Thomas Merton; I see suffering in people’s eyes. That said, my heart resonates with the truth expressed here, making me want to sing, Hallelujah!
“Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts, where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time.”
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