Living in a secular world

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sarahcabanski

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Does anyone find it frustrating living in a society that is so secular?? It seems that when I talk to other people, their priorities are so messed up. They are concerned with the most superficial things yet give no thought to religion or God whatsoever. They are concerned about having the latest clothing styles, driving the best car, making sure their kids are involved in sports (yet they never take their kids to church!). It bothers me when others take these sorts of issues and make them the center of their lives, instead of God. Has anyone else noticed this??
 
One of my closest friends is that way. Even though she’s been a very good friend for over 20 years & I love her dearly, it’s hard to have any sort of meaningful conversation with her because she only wants to talk about her weight, diet, home furnishings, decorating, make-up, clothes, etc. I value her friendship, but there’s no substance to her. Since I am growing in my faith and my love for God, I don’t enjoy being around her as much as I used to. I hate to say this, but perhaps I myself used to be shallow. :o :o

There’s a lot of shallow, empty people out there. I think we should pray for them.

Blessings,
Shannin
 
my fav author had the following to say about this subject (please read it! it’s one of the best quotes i’ve ever read!) if the bit about kant throws you, just skip over it. it’s not essential:

'If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith.

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.’

most people around us every day want to go on making mud pies, instead of realizing the depth and richness that a walk with Him brings.
 
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sarahcabanski:
Does anyone find it frustrating living in a society that is so secular?? It seems that when I talk to other people, their priorities are so messed up. They are concerned with the most superficial things yet give no thought to religion or God whatsoever. They are concerned about having the latest clothing styles, driving the best car, making sure their kids are involved in sports (yet they never take their kids to church!). It bothers me when others take these sorts of issues and make them the center of their lives, instead of God. Has anyone else noticed this??
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Yes. I noticed the same thing.

A society where religion has been pushed into the background creates a vacuum where God used to be. Society which is devoid of any thought or reverence for the eternal and the spiritual tries to remedy this lack by simply indulging in materialistic pursuits as alleged substitutes, in truth poor substitutes for religion, by turning hedonism itself into a form of sacramental faith, albeit a godless one. All become engrossed in being “busy”, in fact too busy for anything else that truly mattered. Driving the best car, wearing the best dresses, living the latest fashions, unbrideled ambition, and simply making more and more money become its “sacraments”. In practicing such a “faith”, the individual, knowingly or unknowingly, is in fact worshipping himself as a god.

This is also the reason why many people, thirsting for answers, and disgusted by the superficiality and pointlessness in their lives, find themselves eventually drawn to eastern mysticism and the occult. No wonder the New Age movement is quite popular nowadays.

Gerry
 
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jeffreedy789:
my fav author had the following to say about this subject (please read it! it’s one of the best quotes i’ve ever read!)
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This was very, very good. Can you please provide a reference for the name of the author and the work from which this is taken? I’d like to read the rest of it. Thanks.

Betsy
 
It is very difficult living in a world that does not value what we value.

We all need to stand tall in our faith, standing with God against the immorality of the world.

We will be persecuted and suffer for our beliefs, so draw hope from Matthew 5:10
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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I try to surround myself with Godly things and keep myself in constant prayer with God.

It hurts seeing so many people with a deep longing in their soul and not knowing where to look. Society’s answers, that of the Culture of Hedonism and Death, do not satisfy, rather damage the individual leading them further away from the Truth. I pray for and pity these lost children of God. And what makes it worse is they commonly rejects any effect to bring them back to God. :crying:

While in the world, I choose to live counterculturely, that is, by the path of God in Truth and in Love.
 
I’ve seen it affect good Catholics as well. I call it the “must do-do-do” mentality, where people are too worried about always doing something, having an activity planned, etc. to sit down and relax. My parents are that way. Every time we go visit we have to “do” something–if it’s not physical labor around the house, it’s doing touristy activities. The concept of sitting around the living room and talking is beyond them. My in-laws are the exact opposite, and we have wonderful talks when we go visit them. I can’t remember the last deep conversation I had with my parents that I didn’t initiate and push to continue, while every time I talk to my in-laws we have an utterly amazing conversation at least once. I really think it all comes down to our society moving away from the art of the conversation. We don’t know how to talk anymore–or maybe more percisely, we don’t know how to listen anymore.
 
I find it frustrating too in a very personal way. I feel like I’ve been formed by and live in such an incredibly secular world that it poses a challenge to my faith. Even though I know it can’t always be true, I basically assume that people are not religious (or are atheists/agnostics) until I know differently, and since people don’t talk about religion, it only comes up in the case of good friends. And in many cases when religion (esp. Catholicism) comes up it is always in a hostile way, so the topic is always exhausting should I choose to speak.

Of course, there is church and I’m involved, but even there I feel like people–esp the clery and religious educators who I otherwise like very much–are so concerned with the perception that the church drives people away that I am encouraged not to worry about my own questions/doubts and to let conscience be my guide and all that. But for someone of my generation/education, the fear isn’t that I’m unable to think for myself. It’s that I was raised questioning/justifying everything.

Maybe I’m seeking something I should be able to have internally or (most likely) do a better job of seeking out, but I am frustrated. It doesn’t help that I’m very shy when it comes to talking about personal and spiritual things (though people rarely think I’m shy at all since I don’t come across that way).
 
hey betsy - the excerpt was from cs lewis’s ‘weight of glory’. it’s an essay to be found in many of the collections of his essays, but especially in a collection that is also called ‘weight of glory’, and includes essays on ‘why i am not a pacifist’ and ‘learning in wartime’, both applicable subjects today.

enjoy!
 
Man, this is a good thread at the right time. I regularly experience just about everything that has been mentioned so far. I grew up assuming everyone was a Christian, and now I assume the exact opposite. I am surrounded by people who are “enlightened” and have rationalized away the existence of God. It saddens me the most with the ex-Christians, because they are usually the most jaded, almost like they think they were duped during the time they believed.

I am also seeing everyone leading the “must do do do” lifestyles. It seems like I am constantly turning down after-hours work. And it seems that everyone is obsessed with getting the best things, in the shortest time frame, while expending the least amount of effort.

I feel that I am constantly fighting with these and other distractions. Because of all of this, I am very thankful for the things such as Mass, prayer, and Bible Study.
 
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jeffreedy789:
hey betsy - the excerpt was from cs lewis’s ‘weight of glory’. it’s an essay to be found in many of the collections of his essays, but especially in a collection that is also called ‘weight of glory’, and includes essays on ‘why i am not a pacifist’ and ‘learning in wartime’, both applicable subjects today.

enjoy!
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Thanks, Jeff! *Of course * it was C.S. Lewis - who else would talk about imagination that way? I just love his writing, too.

Betsy
 
Some of my biggest faux pas in groups have been assuming that Catholic groups are Catholic. That we all acknowledged the full truth of the Catholic Church.

I was kicked out of a Marriage Encounter group for expressing strongly Catholic views in a so-called Catholic group.
 
Yes, living in a secular world sure can drag you down.
Here’s a small grain of comfort for you. If you think the US is a secular country, you should try living here!!! Or, I guess, Europe.
It’s well known that a higher percentage of Americans believe in God and go to church than in any other westernised capitalist country. Heck, even your politicians talk about God!!!
This country (nowadays) closely follows American culture, but may be less of a consumer society, with not such great extremes of wealth and poverty, but as far as religion goes - wanna know what the early Christian persecution was like???😦
 
betsy - yes, lewis is the best. 🙂 btw, i’m rather fond of your signature. nice choice.
 
T.A.Stobie:
It hurts seeing so many people with a deep longing in their soul and not knowing where to look. I pray for and pity these lost children of God. And what makes it worse is they commonly rejects any effect to bring them back to God. :crying:
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This breaks my heart also. I pray for the “love of my life” who suffers from this indifference and hard heartedness. We are not together anymore because he chose worldy pleasures, travel , money, sex, money, oh yeah and money - which become idols. I pray for his re-version several times a day, because he is so dear to me.

In turn, he cannot understand why he continues to lead a sad, lonley life.

The devil has such a stronghold on people these days that it is hard to comprehend that “less is more” with God.

I pray the Holy Spirit can find that one little opening He needs to finally sink in and soften this man’s heart.
 
For most of my life I lived it up in a secular world but eventually the emptyness of that type of life style crept up and took hold. Now that I’m a full-fledged orthodox Catholic, the struggle of living in a secular world has been ironic. Despite the daily struggle (it seems that everyone around me is totally invested in this secular mentality), I thank God for providing me the grace to pull outside the madness. I pray that others will be free of the grip of the secular world.
 
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