Posted on 08/30/2016 8:04:03 AM PDT by Salvation
Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law (1659) by Rembrandt
I had an interesting discussion with Matt Hadro on EWTN’s “Morning Glory” radio show about the rising number of “nones” in our country. When asked for their religious affiliation, “nones” do not identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but rather check the “none” box. They tend to be dismissive of “organized” religion and generally believe that it is acceptable to construct a purely personal religious view and understanding of God.
Indeed, we live in times when many people make light of the fact that others do not believe in God or relegate their faith to a solely personal and largely irrelevant aspect of life. This attitude exists even among many Catholics who, though believers themselves, don’t seem to be overly concerned that others are not. What seems to be of greater concern to most believers—Catholics included—is that a person be “nice.” If a person is determined to be “nice,” little else seems to matter.
Frankly, all of us should be concerned by the rise of unbelief in our culture, whether it is atheism, agnosticism, “none-ism,” indifference, or the rampant secularism that relegates God to the margins. We should be concerned because unbelief on a wide scale (as is the case today) is not only unhealthy for a culture, it is dangerous to it.
This danger is fairly obvious when one considers that unbelievers (and most “under-believers” such as “nones”) think that they answer to no one. When one no longer acknowledges that God exists and sees everything, “reinvents” God, selects what he likes from what God has commanded, or doesn’t understand that he will ultimately have to answer to God for what he has or has not done, it is easy to ignore important aspects of the moral life.
Realizing that we will one day answer to God is an important reminder that we are not a law unto ourselves. The knowledge that we will not ultimately escape if we treat others with contempt, engage in serious injustice, live unchastely, or indulge greed, is an important curb on sin (or at least a call to repentance).
This observation does not mean that every unbeliever or “under-believer” lives a reprobate life. There are atheists who live exemplary lives, who exhibit natural virtues, whether they do so because it is to their benefit or simply because they have some ethical sense that comports with the right reason.
But, other things being equal, having large numbers of unbelievers who do not think that they are ultimately accountable for what they do or fail to do is never healthy to good order, morality, or virtue.
Further, when belief is lost by many, so is a common moral reference point. The Judeo-Christian moral view formed the basis for modern law, justice, constitutional rights, and ethics. While sectarian differences obviously existed in the country for 200 years before this rise of unbelief, there was basic agreement on the essential moral issues, based on a biblical worldview. The rise of unbelief has caused this moral consensus to break down. In its place there has arisen a tyranny of relativism, in which numbers matter more than reason. The one who wins is the one with the loudest megaphone, the most power, and the greatest influence.
This, too, is dangerous to a culture. Without a shared cultus, there can be no real culture. The word cultus refers to a reference point (God and His revelation) that is above and outside a culture, that is bigger and more lasting. Without that shared cultus, that devotion to someone higher, there can be no culture.
Today, when we cannot agree on what makes a marriage, or even on something as obvious as whether one is male or female, the tyranny is starting to resemble anarchy and nihilism. No culture can withstand such a basic undermining. Problems of this sort are civilization killers.
Thus, belief is not only important—it is critical. We cannot go on relegating this matter to the realm of the purely personal and largely irrelevant. Being “nice” is not enough. We must be accountable to God and see Him as authoritative in our life. If we are to survive we must do this, both individually and collectively.
The First Commandment says, I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2). This is not some egocentric God, demanding worship and that He have no rivals. This is our loving Father, who knows what unbelief does to us. When we reject Him and/or turn to other gods, we are harmed immeasurably. We lose our way and inherit a lawless and confused world, in which the tyranny of relativism holds sway and no one thinks or acts as if he will one day answer for what he has and has not done.
Do not make light of the rampant unbelief in our world today. It is far more serious than most imagine. God commands the most serious things for our own well-being. The First Commandment is that we believe and that we call others to do the same. There is a reason that it is commandment number one!
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Very seriously bumped. Excellent homily.
Like Bobby sang, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.”
“Today, when we cannot agree on what makes a marriage, or even on something as obvious as whether one is male or female, the tyranny is starting to resemble anarchy and nihilism.
NO CULTURE CAN WITHSTAND SUCH A BASIC UNDERMINING. PROBLEMS OF THIS SORT ARE CIVILIZATION KILLERS!”
Nobody can seriously argue that point.
Yet many do.
I think sides are being chosen.
I used to find it odd that bible prophesy seemed to suggest both a revival AND a falling away in the last days. But that is exactly what we are seeing. This hits especially close to me because of my conversion from ECT to CI
ECT: Eternal Conscious Torment of the lost
CI: Conditional Immortality - The lost are destroyed, killed, cease to exist at the second death.
Thing is, as CI virtually completely takes over (and I believe it will), those people “warming church pews” because they are scared to death of Pascal’s Wager will be free to be who they really are. They will leave the church. Though this means fewer people will claim to be Christian, purging this impurity from the church will significantly strengthen it.
We had a study on Kingdom/non-Kingdom recently—what each consists of. When you look at the Kingdom gifts vs. the worldly pursuits, it really shows the difference between a joyful soul and a tortured soul. Good/Evil!
So, when we have a decision to make that we might feel is worldly, to put it down in the side it belongs really makes our faith evident and then we decide where our heart and soul are going to go.
LOVE Mrsg. Charles Pope’s daily homily...and I am not Catholic.
...that’s Msrg.!
Ping.
The funny thing of it is, when you do not believe in God, you do not then believe in nothing... you start to believe stupid stuff. I don’t know why exactly that is so, but it is so. Believing in God or at least grasping that there are eternal truths ordering this life shields people from becoming brutal and stupid. Looking around us, there doesn’t seem to be an alternative.
“Nobody can seriously argue that point.”
Re : Post # 7 ~ Yet many do. ~
I agree, I know too many of those people! What I should have posted was, ‘Nobody can SUCCESFULLY argue that point.’
Bkmk
Msgr. It stands for “Monsignor,” a courtesy title, but you can remember the abbreviation of you think of “messenger.”
metmom, please ping your Bible study list. This is Mere (Pure) Christianity for our time.
It not just a rejection of God but a rejection of rules therefore a rejection of even reason and logic ruling you... all becomes arbitrary whim of the moment ...reality is whatever you say it is that leads to ultimately to Anarchy and chaos... no fixed point of reference complete disorientation of society
But there's another point: The unbeliever is at great risk of going to Hell. Christ COMMANDED us to preach the Gospel to all nations, and to baptize them:
Matthew 28:16-20King James Version (KJV) 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Are the unbelievers unbelievers because we believers have fallen down in our duty to 'teach all nations'?
Another time Msgr Pope nails it.
Good hint.
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