Impact of secularism
Secularism has a negative impact at both individual and at societal levels. At the individual level, studies show that people who don’t have faith / reject God become increasingly bitter, impulsive, indulgent, aggressive, lonely, selfish, chaotic, suffer greater anxiety, less loving (agape), less compassionate, more self possessed, despairing, substance abuse / addictive behaviour, & suicide attempts. At the state level, encouragement / “legitimisation” of sinful behaviour (8th amendment) will likely head society towards chaos, evil and a death culture. Secularism essentially involves society in a race to the bottom. Christianity by contrast helps us to lift ourselves and society to heaven. Augustine: Every sin brings with it its own punishment.
We are now down the road to depopulation in Western Europe, and the consequences will become apparent over the next 10 / 15 years as society there experiences a lack of indigenous families and children. A small example of that is the closure of the store Toys”R” Us due partly to falling birth rates.
Is relative morality not madness? A key feature of our humanity is our ability to distinguish between option a and option b, for example, to make decisions to determine a course of action for whoever. Does relative morality not impair our ability to make good decisions, and lead to a lack of judgement on our part? This can then lead to an inability to attach appropriate “value” to decisions, leading to potential disaster for each of us. Common sense, in particular, can go out the window. Is it not time to “cop on”? The virtue of prudence requires us to “deliberate, judge and choose” (in other words see, judge and act). How can we be prudent in the context of relative morality?
Is society also not suffering from the delusion that because people are more educated in modern times, that such people are independent thinkers? Is Ireland today more often than not under “group think” influences? “Propaganda” / communication skills seem to be all the more highly valued today e.g. the recent attempt by the Taoiseach to centralise Government communications. Are people really educated enough with the proper tools (e.g. critical thinking) to be able to ascertain the truth of matters? Don’t people now use emotions as their basis for reaching judgments? Is society not subject even more today to the influence of “propaganda” when such propaganda nearly destroyed Western society in the first half of the 20th century? Many older people comment that young people today exhibit a sense of “autonomy / independence”, entitlement and even superiority that can lead to a significant lack of balance, including behaviourally (e.g. recent comments by Jordan Peterson). An example of this imbalance is where prominent atheist Richard Dawkins recently bemoaned in a tweet of Mar 21st, 2018 the loss of Christianity amongst younger people (!) and feared that a much more malign influence would take hold. Even Nietzsche noted this many years ago. When common sense / balance / faith /morality is removed, where are we?
“He who rules his own spirit is greater than he who takes a city” (Proverbs 16:32). Before the first murder, God warned Cain, “Sin is crouching at your door … but you can rule over it” (Genesis 4:7). Contemporary psychology can ignore the possibility of moral choice rooted in a framework of transcendent values. But without a moral framework individual behaviour can quickly degenerate into a careerist looking-out-for-number-one mentality. Culture has consequences. If a boy is raised in a culture that teaches “Do not murder / steal etc.” as a moral imperative, that culture may give him the tools to understand his evil impulses and, one hopes, to master them. If a boy is raised in a culture that teaches “If it feels good, do it,” he is less likely to understand himself, and less likely to master his evil impulses.
To have a society where the only binding force is that of the law, leads inevitably to some breakdown. The signatories of the Declaration of Independence in the USA emphasised the need for a well ordered society, which was re-emphasised by St. John Paul II, where the people are not just bound by the law, but where there are commonalities in respect of beliefs and values as well as other elements of culture, including customs etc. Too much diversity can be harmful, as evidenced in the break up of the Austro Hungarian Empire in the early 20th century, possibly currently in the EU.
In the “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,” a recent paper from economists Stevenson and Wolfers in the USA shows up the more negative effects of secularism / sexual revolution. Women and families now seem to realise the harmful effects of the sexual revolution; the next step is to realise that specific solutions must be underpinned by the dignity of the human being as per Catholic Social Teaching.
Secularisation will reduce / is reducing Christmas to some “Winter” festival – for example, removing Christmas cribs, replacing Christmas with the word “winter” etc.
What happens to the concepts of Love (Agape), Justice and Mercy when God is no longer in the frame and one is left purely with human terms? With such utilitarian definitions and within a “Might is Right” environment are we not inviting the self-destruction of society? Please watch the following videos:
Some of the problems with the modern secular world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceP7QKlH4kY
Some of the problems with “modern efficiency”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAjCRwMp8eE
Does it suit politicians to keep wishing for an increasing breakdown of society, so that they can put themselves forward as saviours to fix matters, but does it not seem like the opposite is happening? Do they have an interest in the increasing level of societal chaos? It may be a means to their power and control, but what about working for the good of society?
Matthew 7:13: “Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction”
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