DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - The Cross has been banned in school, a sign of the times?

**DF9sLGSU** · 09-13-2006, 03:04 AM

I think we really need to grapple with this & recognise how this is in fact one of the leading issues before the Church right now. Christ and the Church imply commitment to a way of life that is increasingly selfless. Meanwhile society offers a way of life that is almost immediately gratifying & appears to address what is most fundamental about ourselves: our value as human beings & a way of life that corresponds to every aspect of what we are: spiritual, intellectual or material. How can the Church address this?

In the face of this then it seems we need to come to grips with several basic issues: i) what is it that society offers which is so powerfully appealing? ii) how can we explain why its appeal is so powerful? & iii) what is the proper response of the Church to this?

Father Raphael,

You have put your finger on key issues.

Western Society seeks, it seems to me, to fill the God-shaped hole in all of us with the Mammon of materialism. Western governments define basic human rights in a way which allows a right to worship, but which seems to exclude the spiritual dimension from what men and women need in order to be happy.

Western societies have elevated materialism into a way of life: science will provide all the answers, we don't need that old-fashioned and unscientific God stuff; scientific medicine will cure us, we don't need hospital chaplains; education does not require God because we have elevated human reason to be the sum of all.

This way we have created a society where the prevailing orthodoxy is a materialist philosophy, and which can, thanks to economic prosperity, provide for many a plethora of goods which, so the media tell us, will make us happy.

What is reassuring in all of this is that our hunger for God cannot be thus assuaged for long. Our young people go off on spiritual journeys towards 'Eastern' religions, but would, if they knew about Holy Orthodoxy, be attracted to its deep mystical treasures; or else they wish to save the world in other material (and worthy) ways, when they would equally be willing to save it, and themselves, in deeper ways revealed through the Church.

In that sense, I suppose I am suggesting, tentatively, that the world's materialism will always ultimately fail, it cannot give the Peace which only the Lord gives.

In a western world which is as hungry for spirituality as the third world is for food, the Church has a mission field that could keep it busy for a millenium. Was it Chesterton who said that when men stopped believing in God they did not believe in nothing, but in anything? We can see that in the popularity of 'new age' notions, spiritualism, etc., etc. There are so many signs that this society knows it lacks the answer to happiness.

What should the Church do? For a start it should make itself known. Most of my friends think of Christianity as either Protestant or Roman Catholic - only when they are aware of Orthodoxy can they discover the road that will lead to real happiness.

Or is that just fatal optimism?

In Christ,

John

09-13-2006, 03:04 AM	#24
DF9sLGSU Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 438 Senior Member	I think we really need to grapple with this & recognise how this is in fact one of the leading issues before the Church right now. Christ and the Church imply commitment to a way of life that is increasingly selfless. Meanwhile society offers a way of life that is almost immediately gratifying & appears to address what is most fundamental about ourselves: our value as human beings & a way of life that corresponds to every aspect of what we are: spiritual, intellectual or material. How can the Church address this? In the face of this then it seems we need to come to grips with several basic issues: i) what is it that society offers which is so powerfully appealing? ii) how can we explain why its appeal is so powerful? & iii) what is the proper response of the Church to this? Father Raphael, You have put your finger on key issues. Western Society seeks, it seems to me, to fill the God-shaped hole in all of us with the Mammon of materialism. Western governments define basic human rights in a way which allows a right to worship, but which seems to exclude the spiritual dimension from what men and women need in order to be happy. Western societies have elevated materialism into a way of life: science will provide all the answers, we don't need that old-fashioned and unscientific God stuff; scientific medicine will cure us, we don't need hospital chaplains; education does not require God because we have elevated human reason to be the sum of all. This way we have created a society where the prevailing orthodoxy is a materialist philosophy, and which can, thanks to economic prosperity, provide for many a plethora of goods which, so the media tell us, will make us happy. What is reassuring in all of this is that our hunger for God cannot be thus assuaged for long. Our young people go off on spiritual journeys towards 'Eastern' religions, but would, if they knew about Holy Orthodoxy, be attracted to its deep mystical treasures; or else they wish to save the world in other material (and worthy) ways, when they would equally be willing to save it, and themselves, in deeper ways revealed through the Church. In that sense, I suppose I am suggesting, tentatively, that the world's materialism will always ultimately fail, it cannot give the Peace which only the Lord gives. In a western world which is as hungry for spirituality as the third world is for food, the Church has a mission field that could keep it busy for a millenium. Was it Chesterton who said that when men stopped believing in God they did not believe in nothing, but in anything? We can see that in the popularity of 'new age' notions, spiritualism, etc., etc. There are so many signs that this society knows it lacks the answer to happiness. What should the Church do? For a start it should make itself known. Most of my friends think of Christianity as either Protestant or Roman Catholic - only when they are aware of Orthodoxy can they discover the road that will lead to real happiness. Or is that just fatal optimism? In Christ, John
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