The New Human Condition

The above title was the cover story of the USA Today back on March 9. I thought it was an interesting story and  shouldn’t be overlooked. The fact that almost all denominations are losing ground in recent surveys is an important one. People are becoming increasingly disassociated with traditional religious denominations, and instead turning towards their own understanding.

I think that this trend is a result of various factors, the most important of which is a sense that the existing religious groups have fallen behind in modern times. Not to single out the Catholic church, but I have written previously about their struggles to adapt to the modern age. When you couple out-dated religious traditions with a move toward individualism and self-gratification, people will start to drift away.

The most revealing fact about the USA Today survey was this: So many Americans claim no religion at all, that “no religion” is now the largest category in the U.S. besides Catholics and Baptists.

Overall, I don’t think that trend is necessarily a bad thing. If falling away from organized religions leads people to a new understanding of modern spirituality, we all may benefit.

Joe religion

Religion and Capitalism don’t mix. In Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he conceives of “The Invisible Hand:”

…every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

What Smith is saying is that the economy is structured in such a way that takes advantages of selfish interests. If a company wants to excel, they must improve upon a product or invent a new one that more appeals to the consumer. By doing this, the company is pursuing selfish interests (money) and also improving society by creating more convenient products. That is how capitalism proceeds.

 This being said, the invisible hand has grabbed religion and tossed it aside. It is non-conducive to the economy. The invisible hand and capitalism are so focused on gaining an edge that they bombard the market with new product that seem to be improving exponentially.

 People have so many distractions, they lose focus on religion. They have been catered to by the invisible hand and their lives have become too comfortable. They are distracted (attention deficits) and there are so many alluring alternatives to focus their attention on.

 The bottom line is this: Capitalism, moved by the invisible hand, diverts our attention from religion.

Joe Culture, religion Adam Smith, Capitalism

I wanted to write this in response to my previous post. While I do agree that the Catholic Church is in a state of decline, I don’t think it is out of touch with modern-day society, In fact, the Church today may play a more important role than ever before.

 

 

History

Catholicism was never a religion of convenience or comfort. It has a somewhat strict moral code, and a tremendously strong hierarchy formed on religious power and faith. The Catholic Church has helped to shape the course of mankind, influencing political and religious decisions for centuries.

 

 

It is only recently that the Church has found itself struggling, both with financial and spiritual issues. The sexual abuse scandal was an event that will tarnish the Church’s reputation for many more years. These past few years have also seen a decline in the number of parishioners, forcing many churches to consolidate or close entirely. There is also a shortage of men entering the priesthood, as well as women entering the sisterhood.

Future

I don’t think that the Catholic Church is as out of touch with modern society as most people think. I merely think that as an organized religious body, the church is slower to react to change, particularly the speed at which our culture is currently evolving. I believe that Catholics will need to adapt to certain issues while retaining the tradition and sense of ceremony that they have formed through the ages.

 

Here are some things that I think the Catholic Church should consider:

 

• Releasing some of the long-held moral traditions which have become out-of-date, particularly the restriction on birth control. The Catholic Church considers any form of birth control to be a sin, even between married couples. This is something that very few couples in the church follow, as it is simply not practical to keep having children until it is biologically impossible.
• Allow priests to marry. This is a heavily debated issue in the church today. Allowing priests to serve the church as well as their family would open the vocation up to many men who had previously ruled it out because they wanted to raise a family
• Aggressively pursue teenagers and young adults during the high school and college years. I feel that this is generally the time during which men and women raised in the Church choose to fall away from it (this is what happened to me). Perhaps they feel disconnected with the older doctrines, or with the other parishioners who generally tend to be middle-age or older. Making an extra effort to include them in worship or in youth groups could help provide a place for this age group.
• Allowing women to lead the Church. Honestly, I don’t think this will ever happen. And I’m not sure what the consequences would be either way, but it is something that should at least be considered as the Church moves forward

Role of the Catholic Church

Despite the perception as being “out-of-touch” with society, the Catholic Church still plays a role in the formation of faith. I have examined how different spiritual paths are right for different people, and Catholicism is an important avenue for millions of people worldwide.

I doubt that the Church will continue to decline, it might just need to examine itself further, and begin to adapt.

Joe Culture, Spirituality, religion Catholicism

Everybody is aware of the declining number of priests, nuns and other Catholic offices. But why? There are several reasons.

The Catholic doctrine was created by the oppressed jews under Roman control. The rhetoric in the bible is that of tolerance. Turn the other cheek, etc. That was useful under oppression. If you were to fight back and not turn the other cheek, you would create turmoil and more reason for the people in charge (Rome) to oppress you. Throughout history, the most devout periods of Catholicism have come during oppressive times. The World Wars, The Middle Ages, etc. We find more devout Catholics in ghettos than we do in suburbs. We find them in rural areas rather than cities. That being said, the overall standard of living is less and less oppressive than it has been in the past. Technology now affords distractions from harsh realities. People no longer yearn for the comfort that Catholicism offers. The TV provides it for them.

Catholicism and modern society are clashing. Abortion and gay rights are more prevalent now than in any other time. Advances in science have made abortion less deadly and more convenient for women. Science has also shown that being gay is not a choice but is a psychological pathos. Science has made it harder for people to follow the “true” doctrine.

 

The sex scandals among priests have created a lack of trust that was once pivotal for communities. Priests used to be next to the father in terms of being a role model for the son. Priests are now approached with some caution. People argue that the vow of chastity is unreasonable. Men want to have sexual relations with women. That is natural. When they are placed in a circumstance (priesthood) that suppresses that, their sexual desires become perverted. Men are turned away from priesthood because they do not want to remain chaste. That leaves less priests. Less priests means less influence. Less influence is part of the decline we are seeing.

I’m sure there are other reasons for the decline of the Catholic Church but these are the ones that come to mind. Any other insights would be greatly appreciated.

I want it to be known that Catholicism offers very wise precepts and that Jesus was a truly great man. I’m only pointing out what I percieve to be a decline in interest.

Joe Culture, Spirituality, religion Catholicism

This is the first guest post from my friend Kevin. He is writing a few articles for me as I get this blog up and running….

  

“To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in your hand

And eternity in an hour.”

       
              The above poem is by the mystic William Blake. According Webster’s dictionary, mysticism is the belief that direct knowledge of God, spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (as intuition or insight.) Blake uses poetry as a medium to share his insights into spiritual truth. Poetry uses symbolism to make hard concepts easier to understand. So when Blake says: “To see a world in a grain of sand…” he is trying help his reader understand him.

 

This is a poem dealing with perception and understanding. Some people can “see the world in a grain of sand.” I will try to outline how:

 

Physical objects are symbols. A homework paper with a red F on it is a symbol of failure. A gold medal is a symbol of success. Those are apparent. Some symbols are more sublime and not easliy understandable. A friendly face is a symbol for happy times. A snake is a symbol of anxiety for some. These types of symbols aren’t related consciously but rather unconsciously. It is intuitive rather than rational. We are feeling instead of thinking. William Blake had an intuitive understanding of spirituality. It was unconscious. His genius lies in the fact that he became aware of his unconscious and expressed it through his poems.

 

A therapist cures their patient by making them aware of their unconscious feelings. William Blake bypassed the therapist. He became aware of his uncoscious through expression. He expressed his thought in verse. He needed to use symbols to help others become aware of what he knew.

 

Knowledge creates awareness. Most of us know that a red light is a symbol for stopping. Other symbols require higher levels of knowledge and understanding. Take a difficult subject to understand…physics. Most of us are unmoved by the results of physics because we don’t understand it. We can look at an equation and not know what we are looking at. Others have more knowledge and therefore can be moved by physics.

 

Dr. Michio Kaku in his acclaimed book Parallel Worlds describes this phenomena. For years, physicists have looked for evidence of the big bang. In 1995, NASA launched the WMAP satellite in order to detect the cosmic microwave background (CMB.) The CMB is the leftover energy from the big bang. The WMAP scanned the sky and sent back pictures of the CMB. (The boldface is insterted by me, not Michio)

 

“To the unaided eye, the WMAP map of the sky looks rather uninteresting; it is just a collection of random dots. However, this collection of dots has driven some astronomers almost to tears…” (Kaku, 9)

 

The astronomers understand that those dots symbolize the creation of our universe. The unaided eye doesn’t posses that understanding and therefore looks at the same map unmoved.

 

Another analogy to hammer home the point is the American Flag. The Flag is a symbol. For some people, they treat it like a passing car. They don’t think twice about its significance. For a WWII veteran, they will salute it. They have intimate knowledge of what it took to keep that flag waving.

 

 

The point is: the more knowledge a person has about a subject, the more fully the person can appreciate it.

 

Blake could see a world in a grain of sand. The WWII veteran could see great men in the American Flag. A physicist could see gravity in Einstein’s equation’s.

 

When we look at an object, what we see depends on what we know.

Joe Spirituality, religion Michio Kaku, Mystic, Philosophy, Symbolism, William Blake

An Egyptian-born man renounced Islam and was baptised by the Pope during a high-profile mass on Easter Sunday. The man, Magdi Allam has spent years speaking out against “inherent” violence in Islam, and preaches coexistence between Islam and Western Culture.

 

This makes me wonder whether this action will encourage the coexistence Allam intended, or whether it will just incite more negative feelings from one group towards the other in the form of words or violence. I’m not that familiar with Islam, but it sounds like this was a great effort to tie different religious traditions together…regardless of which way he converted.

What do you think? Do actions like this high-profile conversion help bridge the gap between religious traditions? Or widen it even further?

Joe religion Catholicism, Islam

As I have mentioned, everyone has some piece of spiritual wisdom they can share. You may not be fully aware of that fact, or you might even doubt that it’s true. Well it is. Each and every person has had a life experience entirely unique of anyone else. It doesn’t matter how old you are, your background, or anything else about you. No matter who you are you have the ability to help someone else on their path in life, just as you stand to learn something in turn, from them.

 

Some time ago, one of my teachers told me the story of “the blind men and the elephant”. For those not familiar with the story, you can read a version of it here. In summary, six blind men are asked to describe a creature with which they are unfamiliar, in this case an elephant. As none of them can see the elephant in it’s entirely, each man touches a different part of the giant animal. The one who grabs the elephant’s tail describes the animal as a snake. A man who touched one of the elephant’s legs describes is as a thick tree. Another described the elephant to be like a spear, after touching one of its tusks. In a sense, they were all correct. But each man has also limited the description of the elephant to the parts of the body that they each experienced.

 

  

I like to use this story to illustrate my view on different spiritual traditions. Like each of the blind men, we have very limited senses to use when approaching the realms of spirituality and prayer. We rely on what we know, and what we learn through those senses. We use our own experiences to form our view of God (I use the word “God” in this sense to mean any supreme being or higher power). For some people, their experience through Christianity may lead them to God, for others it may be through practice in Buddhism or Islam, while still others may come up a sense of God through personal revelations and experiences outside of the realm of organized religion. Whatever path you choose, I believe that we are all essentially worshipping the same being.

 

We may choose to describe God differently (because we have had different experiences in our lives), and may call him by different names. But ultimately we are relying on our own limited senses and experiences to describe a being that is far beyond our reach. By being “blind” so to speak, how can we ever claim to know God in his entirety?

Joe Spirituality, religion Blind Men and the Elephant, religion, Spirituality

Joe Politics, religion Barack Obama, Islam