Why is there so much strife in the world?

[Robert_Sock]

Why is there so much strife in the world, including within the Church? Perhaps it the most in the political arena. America is so divided that anger, hatred, slander, and finger pointing exists like never before! Is it somehow contrived (e.g., the work of Satan where people are being duped?)? What can be done to lessen it?

 

[stpurl]

Robert, if you think this is a situation ‘like never before’–you need to do some serious studying of World History.

But seriously, why is there strife in the world? One answer really, and it relates to the biggest sin of all–Pride.

Pride which says, “I don’t need God.” “There is no God”. "I can do it all myself’. “I want that”. “I will take what I need.” “I will not serve”. ‘Only I am important’.

 

[margaret42]

and what is most bothersome is how the world has re-defined the words " bigot," “racist”, and “hate-crimes”.
And the one listening to those words often don’t feel an ounce of guilt! They are just being themselves, following their beliefs

 

[Robert_Sock]

I’m 63 and I have not seen this much division in America or within the Church, ever!

Yes, it has to do with pride and arrogance, which goes hand in hand. Many claim to be religious, but fail miserably by their harboring pride and arrogance. It also has to do with self-esteem where people fear the loss of. High self-esteem and low self-esteem are opposite sides of the same coin. The wise will have no part of it because it’s all an illusion and one can be perfectly joyful and content without it. Again, those who seek high self-esteem are always in danger of losing it, and when it happens they become severely depressed. Much better to embrace humility!!!

 

[redbetta]

Original sin.

 

[sevenswords]

Ephesians 2:1-3
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

 

[phil19034]

America is so divided that anger, hatred, slander, and finger pointing exists like never before!

America has been like this before. Right before the Civil War.

 

[stpurl]

And before the Revolution as well. There were some pretty ‘hot’ areas, Tory-wise.

 

[Saxum]

St Josemaria explained why there is so much strife in the world:

A secret, an open secret: these world crises are crises of saints.

God wants a handful of men ‘of his own’ in every human activity. And then… ‘pax Christi in regno Christi — the peace of Christ in the kingdom of Christ’. The Way point 301

 

[phil19034]

within the Church, ever!

In regards to division within the Church, I would argue that there was just as much in the 1970s. However, we didn’t have the 24 hour news cycle like we do today, and Catholic media was mainly diocesan or parish, and on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.

We didn’t have Catholic “news” and commentators posting new stuff almost every hour like we do today.

There was no Twitter, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, forums, etc. Therefore, it was possible to be oblivious to all of this. After all, people tend to be more blunt, direct, and unfiltered online vs in person.

BTW - I would argue that the internet (for all it’s wonders) is also makes hate, misinformation, and over-communication too easy.

Today, the news is like porn: you have to work hard to avoid it.

God Bless

 

[phil19034]

And before the Revolution as well. There were some pretty ‘hot’ areas, Tory-wise.

Yeap… lucky we haven’t quite gotten to the point of tar and feathering people of the opposite parties yet. Though, I would not be surprised if we get there (after all, a liberal did open fire on a number of Republican congressmen playing softball)

 

[phoage]

Robert,

I am only 2 years older than you and I have been noticing this for quite a while. I believe a large part it is due to instant communications and the number of people who have access to the internet. When something happens anywhere in the world, dozens of people get videos on their smart phones and post it to the web with their own slant. them hundreds comment on it.

During WWII you got news on news reels at the theater and on radio days or even weeks later. During Viet Nam you got pictures on the evening news from a day or two before. In the 70’s and 80’s it was the same day, maybe even live transmission. But in all those cases, for an average person to comment on it took a letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine and it had to be significant enough to publish.

Since the Internet has come of age andbandwidth has gotten so much, anyone can do it.

I do not think the world has gotten worse. We just have our attention drawn to it alot more.

Keep Calm and Pray.

Patrick
AMDG

 

[Genesis315]

Ultimately, original sin is the reason. Also, political disagreement has become the new heresy, due to a lack of faith in general.

From Cardinal Henri de Lubac’s “Paradoxes of Faith”:

If heretics no longer horrify us today, as they once did our forefathers, is it certain that it is because there is more charity in our hearts? Or would it not too often be, perhaps, without our daring to say so, because the bone of contention, that is to say, the very substance of our faith, no longer interests us? Men of too familiar and too passive a faith, perhaps for us dogmas are no longer the Mystery on which we live, the Mystery which is to be accomplished in us. Consequently then, heresy no longer shocks us; at least, it no longer convulses us like something trying to tear the soul of our souls away from us…And that is why we have no trouble in being kind to heretics, and no repugnance in rubbing shoulders with them.

In reality, bias against ‘heretics’ is felt today just as it used to be. Many give way to it as much as their forefathers used to do. Only, they have turned it against political adversaries. Those are the only ones with whom they refuse to mix. Sectarianism has only changed its object and taken other forms, because the vital interest has shifted. Should we dare to say that this shifting is progress? It is not always charity, alas, which has grown greater, or which has become more enlightened: it is often faith, the taste for the things of eternity, which has grown less.

(this is also why there is division in the Church, some are not horrified by heresy, while others still are, and poltical issues are treated like dogma/heresy by other groups, with plenty of overlap–it’s a double wammy).