Is the world moving to secularism?

[xlost6]

Is the world moving to secularism?

The reason I ask, this has been captivating my interest lately and I would love to dig deeper into the topic because it’s really very eye-opening.

I’ve been on various forums: i.e. video game forums and even to the christianforums.com I was a member on. I would see various threads about how people are lost and confused or hateful comments about God in general or the lack of we need no God in this day in age considering we don’t need to rely on false hope or people were using God for:

-to fear the mass
-to use as an story to explain the beginning.

Now what I find really crazy is that. We humans can date history or have history records that date back to the Egyptian empire. And that’s when for some reason God became an defining moment in human beings lives.

Now was that when human beings were able to identify reason? I would seriously like to read any books that anyone can suggest.*

I didn’t really pay any attention to history like that in high school but for some reason I’m hooked to understanding our origin and human progress.

Now I know I probably didn’t explain myself good but my question is if and if it is, why is the world so secular?

Why is everyone just doing what ever feels good rather than applying the moral roots of our original origin again.

Jesus set a standard that is understood worldwide but for some reason. Reason itself is out to kick all what we once believed in as something weak and dumb and stupid and a poor human ability to believe in myths.

It’s rather sad…please give me some book recommendations please if you can…

 

[GRATEFULONEjim]

The secular world has replaced God with Mankind. They believe that mankind has gained the knowledge to direct its own affairs and no longer has to answer to the Creator. Man does as he pleases. He does what he wants, when he wants. He puts selfish hedonistic tendencies first and foremost. Man no longer wants to put God first now that he has redefined freedom. The media and institutions of higher learning glorify consumerism and the need to have it all. The need to be successful. Moral depravity is looked upon as a good time. The American people have redefined the culture and it is fast pushing morals and values to the back. Christian values are looked on as archaic, out of time and place. Our little ones are being taught in school that it is bad to worship God. That it may offend someone. That modern society can do without the need for God. The Godless era of the 60’s is now in control of the Government and is passing laws that go against God’s wishes. It may be to late to turn things around…

 

[xlost6]

Thank you for your response. It means a lot. You know you clearly took what I wanted to explain right out of my mind.

It’s very sickening to see the world with how it is today. As a matter of fact me and my coworker today was discussing this subject and he told me its crazy how Christianity is looked down upon at this day in age. We have all the reason in the world and we use it for the wrong purposes at times.

My friend was saying why makes Christianity different then the other religions is that Christianity or the Bible writes about humans worshipping God. No other religion offers that but worshipping man. We live in a society today that focuses more on the worship of man then the worship of the True Living God.

Since I’m studying Catholicism it seems my faith is growing stronger as days go on and I thank the Lord for everything. He deserves all worship and that’s the whole point of Christianity! God Himself in flesh form through Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for humans if anything He deserves worship. Not some make believe monster or make believe stone statue or a prophet.

Its man’s pride that steps in the way to screw up an successful relationship between God and himself.

Sorry for the long rant but it just upsets me to see the world state of mind right now and how reason seems like it’s the only thing that seems true and it’s not.

 

[PJM]

=xlost6;7869108]Is the world moving to secularism?

The reason I ask, this has been captivating my interest lately and I would love to dig deeper into the topic because it’s really very eye-opening.

I’ve been on various forums: i.e. video game forums and even to the christianforums.com I was a member on. I would see various threads about how people are lost and confused or hateful comments about God in general or the lack of we need no God in this day in age considering we don’t need to rely on false hope or people were using God for:

-to fear the mass
-to use as an story to explain the beginning.

Now what I find really crazy is that. We humans can date history or have history records that date back to the Egyptian empire. And that’s when for some reason God became an defining moment in human beings lives.

Now was that when human beings were able to identify reason? I would seriously like to read any books that anyone can suggest.*

I didn’t really pay any attention to history like that in high school but for some reason I’m hooked to understanding our origin and human progress.

Now I know I probably didn’t explain myself good but my question is if and if it is, why is the world so secular?

Why is everyone just doing what ever feels good rather than applying the moral roots of our original origin again.

Jesus set a standard that is understood worldwide but for some reason. Reason itself is out to kick all what we once believed in as something weak and dumb and stupid and a poor human ability to believe in myths.

It’s rather sad…please give me some book recommendations please if you can…

My dear friend in Christ;

“The whole world” is and has nearly always been secular, dreiven by the capitolo sins of Pride; greed and Averace.

The Catholic Faith notice in this instance I did not use the term “church” has always been focused on God and charity in the midst of the prevailing trends and gods.

as to books; perhaps it would be better FIRST to fully and truly understand what we believe as catholics and why we can believe it?

If you agree send me a PM.

God Bless,
Pat

 

[PattiDay]

Your question made me think. It is very disheartening to see how secularism keeps marching forward, but on the other hand I have noticed lately that there is much more talk about God and religion everywhere, even on commercial media.

On one of the so-called news (entertainment) programs, there was a Hollywood attorney (woman) decrying the morals of a certain singer, using such words as Jesus Christ, the Bible, Holy Scripture. I would normally have surfed right on by, because this network is known for its shock and fluff, but I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The host, a young, hip, Hollywood type, actually agreed with the woman defending morals that we need to keep our children away from this stuff. This stuff is the bread and butter of this network, so I could hardly believe my ears.

It’s very stunning to me how concerned we in the United States are for everyone who is undergoing any difficulty, the earthquake in Haiti, the nuclear disaster in Tokyo, the tornados in the south, the current flooding of the midwest. Money is pouring in to help these people, even though the same people giving the milllions upon millions of dollars are experiencing their own difficulties. This concern is not coming from totally secular self-seekers who care only for their own personal happiness, but from good and decent people. I only wish that in addition to each dollar donated, that person also offered a prayer. Wouldn’t that be wonderful.

 

[Rence]

Now I know I probably didn’t explain myself good but my question is if and if it is, why is the world so secular?

I think the world is so secular because it includes and incorporates people of all kind, rather than people of different beliefs all clashing and arguing about every little thing. In today’s world, it’s not uncommon to have ten friends with ten different religions, or no religion at all. While one is expected to follow their beliefs and values, one is also expected to respect their neighbors’ beliefs and values as their neighbors’ own as well. You certainly should follow your conscience in every way in every aspect of your life. But that doesn’t mean you have to bicker with your neighbors in every aspect of your life either. That leaves the muslim free to be muslim, the Catholic free to be Catholic, the Jew free to be Jew, the Lutheran free to be Lutheran, the atheist free to be atheist, etc, in social environments without picking at each others’ religious beliefs. Imagine clashing all the time with people of various faiths while at work, at school, or just out having fun. At some point people began to understand that maybe politics and religion just shouldn’t be taken to the social setting, or else arguements and bad blood result. There’s a time and a place for everything, and your neighbor will let you know if they want to argue about religion…

Why is everyone just doing what ever feels good rather than applying the moral roots of our original origin again.

Because their conscience may conflict with doing otherwise.

Jesus set a standard that is understood worldwide but for some reason. Reason itself is out to kick all what we once believed in as something weak and dumb and stupid and a poor human ability to believe in myths.

From the beginning of Jesus’ evangelization there were “side groups”. Not everyone dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus, and not everyone stayed for His teachings, and not everyone followed his disciples after His ascension. In addition, as people read the readings in the Bible, some had a hard time correlating what was written on the pages, with what was taught as the meanings of those readings. Some people, even then, thought that somewhere along the lines, a wrong turn was made. What is a standard that is understood world wide for Catholics, is not the same for everyone. There were always people who didn’t accept the Catholic Church’s teachings, but they weren’t called Lutherans or Baptists back then because those denominations weren’t established then, they were called “heretics”. Back when the Church had teaching authority over the masses, people weren’t allowed to voice their disagreements with anything from the Church or they would face public ridicule or be punished civilly. So I don’t think that this “secularism” is new. It’s just not hidden anymore the way it used to be.

Look at this senario for an example. Most societies and religions teach that premarital sex is forbidden, and a stigma was attached to one who was caught having premarital sex. In the ancient world, a woman could be stoned for having premarital sex, or her prospects for getting married would be ruined. As time went on, women were no longer being stoned, but people went so far as to hide away a pregnant unmarried woman, until her “bastard” was born, and then she’d give up that child for adoption and come back home as is nothing was any different. If it was ever found out, it would be monetarily painful for a family to fix it so that their daughter could be eligible for marriage again. Then abortion was an option that was never considered (but since the early Church fathers felt the need to condemn it, we can pretty much deduce by this fact alone that people were having abortions even back then – so abortion isn’t a new thing). Slowly people saw the immorality of “forcing” a pregnant woman to give up her child by whatever means (either by parental or family pressure, or by society’s pressure) and women started keeping their children. Now there is a push by some groups to encourage pregnant women to keep their kids - rather than go into hiding, or rather than aborting of course, or even rather than giving up for adoption. That was NEVER heard of before. Sure there have always been pro-life advocates, but women were really encouraged to give away their kids and avoid the “shame” of being pregnant out of wedlock. So while we certainly are taught to abstain until marriage, we have a more humane way of dealing with premarital pregnancies when they do occur. I don’t know about most people here, but I think that’s a good thing. But you can see how pregnancies have been dealt with in the past and how they have evolved today. A lot has evolved over time, as our cultures have evolved over time. In a way, secularism has enabled pregnant women who are unmarried to have a lot of choices and resources, INCLUDING keeping their baby. The biggest contribution to pregnant women comes in the form government aid, which is secular. Honestly, there is no such thing as “can’t afford to have a baby” because the governement will pay for it all, and will continue to contribute until the child is older.

Rules have always been in place…but there are always going to be people to break them. Personally, I’d rather those rules being broken be out in the open and dealt with by society, rather than society as a whole just doing as they please with a false facade of “religiousity”. That’s not about everything I suppose. But that’s just me.

 

[meltzerboy]

Often definitions of words change and take on different meanings. In the Middle Ages, the term “secular” referred to parish priests who lived among the world “in saeculo,” as opposed to monks who lived apart from the world. The strict definition of secularism today, as defined by secularists, is the separation of Church and State in society. This was also the way Thomas Jefferson, among others, defined the term. It was and is thought of as a means of ensuring religious liberty for all by not imposing a particular religion on society. However, the meaning of secularism has further evolved (some secularists would say it has become distorted by some religious people) to encompass meanings such as materialism, hedonism, atheism, moral relativism, liberalism, and humanism. The meanings of the latter two terms especially–liberalism and humanism–have also undergone quite an evolution throughout the years. It used to be a prideful thing to call oneself a liberal, for example. Nowadays, even liberals call themselves progressives, and that word too has begun to take on negative connotations. A similar evolution has taken place regarding the term conservative. If one confines the definition of secularism to separation of Church and State, I would argue that is a good thing to prevent the domination of any one religion in society while ensuring the free practice of all religions and the liberty of non-believers as well. The political conflict begins when some proponents of secularism try to inhibit the free practice of any religious group by restricting the exercise of their moral values. This I am opposed to. If, on the other hand, one defines secularism in terms of greed, materialism, and hedonism, I can see a problem there as well in the loosening of moral values in society. This has been going on in modern society for a long time now, and manifests itself in our relative lack of civility and respect toward one another in both governmental politics as well as our daily lives. It appears to me there has also been a general decline in such diverse things as modesty in dress, artistic taste (particularly in music!), quality of television programs, the work ethic, standards in education, and so on. Insofar as religion is concerned, I’m not sure. There seems to be BOTH an increase in the thirst for religious and spiritual teachings and values–including organized religion–among young people, as well as a decrease in religious practices among other people. I think it’s a complex sociological phenomenon, similar in its way to both the increase and decrease in society’s interest in exercise and good nutrition.

 

[The_GreyPilgrim]

There is a book by a Catholic author, George Weigel, called “The Cube and the Cathedral”, which is a pretty good explaination of how secularism destroyed the Christian heritage of Europe and is a good warning of what can and will happen here in the states if it is not stopped.

I think what happens is that before some parents realize it their children have been corrupted by secularism is some way by the time that they become teenagers. The parents, busy doing whatever, kept telling themselves that they wanted to teach their kids about God but kept putting it off believing that they still had time “later on”. That is until “later on” becomes too late. What could have been teaching moments turn into arguments and/or parents just simply try to impose by force and the child rebels.

Here’s the link to Weigel’s book:

amazon.com/Cube-Cathedral-America-Politics-Without/dp/0465092667