Revitalizing Our Culture

[Thinking10]

I think many people on this forum agree that our culture is heading toward a catastrophic collapse. Many point to individual moral issue that they say are the cause. I think we need to step back and look at the underlying principles of our culture and where we are failing it, not it failing us.

I see people of a variety of viewpoints, whether they are radical left wing Communists/Marxists or strong supporters of traditional Christianity all pushing their ideas of “if only everyone did not do this or that action…” the world would be perfect.

I think everyone is so focused on small specifics of actions that they no longer see the bigger picture of why our culture and nations were much stronger 110 years ago than they are today.

My question is: What was it about our Western nations of 100+ years ago that made them better morally, spiritually, and culturally than they are today? How should we live today so as to restore our Western nations to their previous states of integrity rather than the present state of decline?

 

[Shawshank94]

I for one try not to “live in the past” and am quite excited about the future.
Sure, all you hear about on the news is terror, war, and horrible things, BUT good things are happening too. And there are still GOOD PEOPLE out there.

As far as our Culture (here in America) I truly believe there is ROOM FOR US ALL, all religions, all politics, all music, all culture. That’s what makes America great, this diversity and difference of opinions and the ability to have free speech and freedom of religion. God bless all of us here on this beautiful planet!

 

[Book_Worm]

I think many people on this forum agree that our culture is heading toward a catastrophic collapse. Many point to individual moral issue that they say are the cause. I think we need to step back and look at the underlying principles of our culture and where we are failing it, not it failing us.

I see people of a variety of viewpoints, whether they are radical left wing Communists/Marxists or strong supporters of traditional Christianity all pushing their ideas of “if only everyone did not do this or that action…” the world would be perfect.

I think everyone is so focused on small specifics of actions that they no longer see the bigger picture of why our culture and nations were much stronger 110 years ago than they are today.

My question is: What was it about our Western nations of 100+ years ago that made them better morally, spiritually, and culturally than they are today? How should we live today so as to restore our Western nations to their previous states of integrity rather than the present state of decline?

Better? Really?

A little more than 100 years ago, it was possible for one human being to own another, breed it like a dog, and sell off his wife and child. He could beat his property to near death and rape any slave he chose.

About 100 years ago, women could not vote and were, in many ways, the possession of their husband. Millions of young children worked long hours under horrendous, unsafe conditions.

People worked long hours, for little pay, and were not allowed to unionize. The conditions for minorities and women were even worse.

Less than 100 years ago, people whose skin was the wrong color could not vote, could not attend school with children whose skin was the “right” color, drink from the same water fountain, sit next to them on a bus, and certainly not marry therm. A young boy or man could be murdered for even looking at a woman. And all of this was condoned by “good,” God-fearin’ people.

In my own lifetime, people could be denied a job because of their sex or race and certainly paid much less. It was legal to force people with mental illness to be sterilized. And it was laughable to think that a Catholic could be elected President.

There is much that can be improved in modern culture, but let’s not look at the past through rose-colored glasses either.

 

[captainrick]

I think many people on this forum agree that our culture is heading toward a catastrophic collapse. Many point to individual moral issue that they say are the cause. I think we need to step back and look at the underlying principles of our culture and where we are failing it, not it failing us.

I see people of a variety of viewpoints, whether they are radical left wing Communists/Marxists or strong supporters of traditional Christianity all pushing their ideas of “if only everyone did not do this or that action…” the world would be perfect.

I think everyone is so focused on small specifics of actions that they no longer see the bigger picture of why our culture and nations were much stronger 110 years ago than they are today.

My question is: What was it about our Western nations of 100+ years ago that made them better morally, spiritually, and culturally than they are today? How should we live today so as to restore our Western nations to their previous states of integrity rather than the present state of decline?

In my opinion it was, in part:

1. Strong faith in God.
2. Intact families.
3. Families and churches taking care of individuals in need, rather than expecting government to take care of every need.

 

[Colorad007]

As far as our Culture (here in America) I truly believe there is ROOM FOR US ALL, all religions, all politics, all music, all culture. That’s what makes America great, this diversity and difference of opinions and the ability to have free speech and freedom of religion. God bless all of us here on this beautiful planet!

Unless, of course, you happen to be a Christian baker or Mozilla executive or adoption agency or bed and breakfast owner or home improvement specialist or parade organizer.

You are, of course, entitled to your own opinions and beliefs so long as they conform to the prevailing zeitgeist. But that isn’t much of an entitlement at all, is it?

 

[friardchips]

Tolstoy wasn’t keen on people who said: “These days…”, or “Back then…” as a way of comparing. Each era has its own new set of prevailing issues (such as innovation) and some things that never change (selfishness). Fortunately we have one thing that treads a path through all this in any era: faith.

One other thing, is that another name for God is not success, in the worldly sense. Life is subjective in a worldly sense, but faith can help us rise from the dust, so that we can remain objective in any moment from a spiritual stand point.

100 years ago going to the dentist would have been a nasty affair. Today it isn’t. There will always people who do evil. Those who wish to do things their way and don’t care who they hurt in the process.

Today we have mass abortion, euthanasia and terrorists brutally torturing and killing innocent people. 2000 odd years ago we had the same: murder of the innocents, ‘honourable’ falling-on-the-sword style deaths and plenty of raping and pillaging. Selfishness never changes. Innovation always changes. Faith remains.

Christ will always be the stumbling block for the world. And His cross will always save those who wish to get back up.

 

[Xantippe]

I for one try not to “live in the past” and am quite excited about the future.
Sure, all you hear about on the news is terror, war, and horrible things, BUT good things are happening too. And there are still GOOD PEOPLE out there.

Yes.

100 years ago, we couldn’t even have this conversation about how the world was going to heck, because we couldn’t have spoken to each other from our various corners of the globe.

I think there can be a lot of ingratitude in doom and gloom.

 

[Book_Worm]

Yes.

I think there can be a lot of ingratitude in doom and gloom.

What a great point!

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

There is much that can be improved in modern culture, but let’s not look at the past through rose-colored glasses either.

I’m actually leaning towards the belief that whatever decline being lamented is in fact the result of looking at the past with rose-colored glasses. All this so-called murder and fornication was pretty normal back in Caesar’s day… and Alexander’s… and Jacob’s… and Noah’s…

 

[edwest2]

I think many people on this forum agree that our culture is heading toward a catastrophic collapse. Many point to individual moral issue that they say are the cause. I think we need to step back and look at the underlying principles of our culture and where we are failing it, not it failing us.

I see people of a variety of viewpoints, whether they are radical left wing Communists/Marxists or strong supporters of traditional Christianity all pushing their ideas of “if only everyone did not do this or that action…” the world would be perfect.

I think everyone is so focused on small specifics of actions that they no longer see the bigger picture of why our culture and nations were much stronger 110 years ago than they are today.

My question is: What was it about our Western nations of 100+ years ago that made them better morally, spiritually, and culturally than they are today? How should we live today so as to restore our Western nations to their previous states of integrity rather than the present state of decline?

It’s simple. 100 + years ago, God was more a part of our lives. 50 years ago, being a community of different faiths with shared values meant we all respected some type of ethical and moral principles. Today, we have ‘radical individualism.’ The “I’ll do what I want and no one - no one - can tell me different.”

Pope Benedict:

"The Holy Father says:

"If we cannot have common values, common truths, sufficient communication on the essentials of human life–how to live how to respond to the great challenges of human life–then true society becomes impossible."

Commentary by the Practical Catholic:

"How true this is. Where there is no communication, no culture, no shared experience, there is no society; because there is no people. There remains only a vast and foreboding, unforgiving sea of individuals ready to crash upon each other and the world with the slightest wind. Without a common basis, we have not the vaulted pluralism we’re taught to embrace, but Babel, in all the confusion and madness of a society with no binding forces. Already we are seeing the tensions of this fragmentation breaking out across cultures.

“Without common values and truths, such as in the societes we find ourselves in, we find the fabric of society torn like Joseph’s cloak, by a great many tribes which would like to lay claim to the title of favored. Leftists, conservatives, anarchists, nihilists, secularists, objectivists, the shallow, the entertainers, the entertained, all vying for control against each other. Tribalism can indeed spawn differentiation, but without some common ground, and in the face of increasing jargon not only in the academies but in the cultures; we shall be left with madness. In the end this tribalism can only result in the decline of all their claims, and the alienation of one from the other. Babel is the happenstance when society tries to become God.”

Commentary from me. If it’s all about “what I want and who cares about what other people want then truth, right and wrong, is ONLY for me to decide.” No - truth is truth.

"Pope Benedict XVI goes on to say:

"We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires. The church must defend itself against threats such as “radical individualism” and “vague religious mysticism”. [emphasis added]

Commentary by the Practical Catholic:

“Pope Benedict does not play language games, he is unconcerned with the postmodernist’s corner on untruth. Neither should we be. Notice how he calls relativism a “dictatorship” instead of agreeing that no values and no Truth are the way forward for society. What many fail to recognize is that imposing nihilism and arbitrary tribalism is a form of dictatorship. Where untruth or half truth is the common order, there can only be oppression. Political correctness has asked us to abandon our value-laden language and to pick up a new language proper to the secular forum. However, this secular newspeak is value-laden against the traditional claims of the Western world and as such, is a poison rather than a new order. We can and should bring our own conviction laden language to the table, if we’re going to have any sort of real dialogue at all. Misinformation and restrained convictions are not the proper building blocks for a democracy.”

Peace,
Ed

 

[underacloud]

100 years ago they were fighting the “Great War”.

I’m sure glad to be living today and not 100 years ago.

There will always be good and bad in any culture, and different cultures will be more or less hostile towards people of faith. At least today we aren’t being fed to loins.

 

[Jay82]

I think many people on this forum agree that our culture is heading toward a catastrophic collapse. Many point to individual moral issue that they say are the cause. I think we need to step back and look at the underlying principles of our culture and where we are failing it, not it failing us.

I disagree. We are significantly better off as a society today than we were 50-100-200 years ago (and so on). As others pointed out, we are probably as close to equality as we have been in the history of time, there are less wars, there are many opportunities for people to take different paths in life and pursue what they desire and things should only get better. The standard of living is higher across the board.

I think every generation people like to say things are going down hill. Its best not lament or focus on the negative. Embrace the future and what you can do to make it better than it is today. To do anything otherwise is just being shortsighted and pessimistic.

 

[edwest2]

I disagree. We are significantly better off as a society today than we were 50-100-200 years ago (and so on). As others pointed out, we are probably as close to equality as we have been in the history of time, there are less wars, there are many opportunities for people to take different paths in life and pursue what they desire and things should only get better. The standard of living is higher across the board.

I think every generation people like to say things are going down hill. Its best not lament or focus on the negative. Embrace the future and what you can do to make it better than it is today. To do anything otherwise is just being shortsighted and pessimistic.

I follow the media, social trends and financial trends. Things are worse now. Worse than 50 years ago. It’s all documented. There are many conflicts going on, most of them small but resulting in death nonetheless. Does anyone here know how many US military bases there are around the world? I have no idea what “equality” means. Most murders in the United States are committed by people who know each other. STDs are at epidemic levels.

Embracing the ‘calendar fantasy’ is nonsense. “The future” is what? A year from now? Two? Look at the lagging growth figures in the West. GNP is down in the US and Europe. No, it’s not all bad news but Wall Street demands tribute and if projections are not met, people lose their jobs. Unemployment is still high. Growth - globally, has slowed. Investors are the engine, along with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Being optimistic is good but the world is aging on top of that. You’ve got a lot less kids than the Baby Boomer generation.

Those are hard facts, from Forbes to highly specialized sources and think tanks.

nytimes.com/2013/09/19/business/americas-sinking-middle-class.html?_r=0

Peace,
Ed

 

[Xantippe]

I follow the media, social trends and financial trends. Things are worse now. Worse than 50 years ago.

**50 years ago, our president had just been assassinated, we had been teetering on the edge of nuclear war (the Cuban Missile Crisis) and we were about to suffer a long and humiliating defeat in Vietnam. **

**100 years ago, WWI was starting and the end of the war was just the set-up for the next world war, in which tens of millions (and mostly civilians) were going to die by violence and starvation and after which all of Eastern Europe would be under the Soviet yoke.

Things were pretty bad 50 and 100 years ago. **

It’s all documented. There are many conflicts going on, most of them small but resulting in death nonetheless. Does anyone here know how many US military bases there are around the world? I have no idea what “equality” means. Most murders in the United States are committed by people who know each other.

**When has that not been the case? **

STDs are at epidemic levels.

**Nope. Have a look at this chart on the prevalence of gonorrhea.

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chart_of_gonorrhea_infection_rates_(USA,_1941-2007).gif**

We’re doing way better than we were 40 years ago.

 

[JorduSpeaks]

At least today we aren’t being fed to loins.

Except in Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Nigeria, North Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Tunisia, and several other dozen places that we’ll never hear about.

That said, the world’s more or less always been a pretty rotten place, and we’ve been expecting God to shut it down for more than two thousand years. So far, He hasn’t, so maybe the little bit of good on this miserable rock is still worth all of the bad. For right now, it’s our job to seek out that small spark of light and keep it from being snuffed out for as long as possible.

 

[Et_Cetera]

Better? Really?

A little more than 100 years ago, it was possible for one human being to own another, breed it like a dog, and sell off his wife and child. He could beat his property to near death and rape any slave he chose.

About 100 years ago, women could not vote and were, in many ways, the possession of their husband. Millions of young children worked long hours under horrendous, unsafe conditions.

People worked long hours, for little pay, and were not allowed to unionize. The conditions for minorities and women were even worse.

Less than 100 years ago, people whose skin was the wrong color could not vote, could not attend school with children whose skin was the “right” color, drink from the same water fountain, sit next to them on a bus, and certainly not marry therm. A young boy or man could be murdered for even looking at a woman. And all of this was condoned by “good,” God-fearin’ people.

In my own lifetime, people could be denied a job because of their sex or race and certainly paid much less. It was legal to force people with mental illness to be sterilized. And it was laughable to think that a Catholic could be elected President.

There is much that can be improved in modern culture, but let’s not look at the past through rose-colored glasses either.

Yes, thank you. Let’s not forget all of the scientific and medical progress that we have made as well. We have come a long way as a people.

 

[cjd]

I might be putting words in the OP’s mouth but I think the point of the question was not about equality or wealth or health but why are worse off today than 110 years ago when it comes to spiritually, family, culture? That is, how can we reverse the lack of faith, the breakdown of the family, or the disintegration of cultural norms.

I would say the lack of faith drives all of the remaining issues. If you believe God is dead, you become the most important piece of the universe that remains. When that happens, everything is about you, your happiness, and your position vis-a-vis others. That type of thinking destroys humility, destroys self-sacrifice, and destroys love of anyone but yourself first. There’s not much left after that.

 

[Thinking10]

That is, how can we reverse the lack of faith, the breakdown of the family, or the disintegration of cultural norms.

This is close to what I meant. When families no longer stay together, when we no longer can celebrate our traditions, when the YOLO lifestyle replaces our look toward timeless ideals and eternity, when we no longer honor our culture’s heroes and those who made our nations what they are today, when we can no longer even define something as basic as marriage, how can our Western culture survive?

 

[LongingSoul]

It was Fathers Day here yesterday and I was only just observing all the marriages around me and how lovely they are. My parents, siblings, friends. All in genuinely loving and honest marriages with very few in the extended family and friends choosing divorce.

These days there is such a strong emphasis on the intimacy and affection between couples that strengthen marriages rather than people just sucking it up out of obligation and duty. Very few women would ever tolerate their husbands bit of crumpet on the side, which was much more common in the past. People, men and women, experience true free choice in staying together, then in the past when there were few options for an abused or misused woman.

The consequence of family breakdown is obvious to everyone. In the 70’s when feminists used to propose that a woman can raise a child alone just as well as being married, well noone would ever say that now and be credible. There is no substitute for a loving marriage and a strong family bond where children are concerned. I think that any time we experience moral decay… the immune system of humanity kicks in to recognise and treat the problem naturally. Of course we each have to take care of our own little patch while we live through a time of decay but to think that there is need to force a collective ‘conversion’ (philosophical or religious) on humanity somehow, is a dangerous ideology.

I think there is much good to be appreciated and built on that makes our world a better place today and the future hopeful.

 

[bisco]

the people who think things are worse today than ever, are the same ones who think Christ is coming soon. the same voices have been around in every generation. the only answer is to be prepared, and be a light shining on a lamp stand.