Today I read an article in the Wall Street Journal here which expressed the idea that religion is in trouble, that people are turning away in droves from organized religions which they view as rule based and corrupt. More importantly, the article says that people are fed up with religion which does not change with the times. It says in brief, that they are seeking their own path and finding happiness in spirituality and their own self-defined morality instead. The article even claims that very word religion has fallen from grace.
One thing we know – people in today’s society, they don’t seem to be willing to accept any moral or religious truth that does not conform to their expectations, wants, and desires. They will blindly follow any theology that preaches what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
People have become all too comfortable and selfish, they know that what is right but it’s not what they want – so they look to charlatans or each other for affirmation. The natural law is written on the hearts of mankind by God. We are endowed with an innate knowledge of God’s existence and his expectations of us through it. It’s why the belief in God in some or another form pervades every culture on earth.
I disagree with the article however, on one critical point. While I agree that many are seeking affirmation of their beliefs and leaving the Catholic Church and religion in general – the author failed to mention the ever growing traditionalist movement which you can read about here.
Just as many are fleeing to the truth, hard is it may be for them to accept. They are seeking the truth. Seeking to hold themselves and be held by their communities to a higher moral standard. Moral truth does not change, only social whim. Many see the unchanging Catholic Church as a solid foundation, and take comfort in the teachings of Christ as handed down from Peter and the other popes in unbroken succession since the crucifixion of Jesus.
When you are traveling to a distant destination, you must stay the course if you are to ever arrive. if you wander aimlessly, not only will you not arrive, but you will become hopelessly lost. Many now see clearly the benefits not only to themselves but society, but most importantly it is filling the void in their hearts and souls which agnosticism has failed to do for so many.
Colin
The Catholic Husband 
Brilliant read Colin..
When any of us blog we leave open debate we might not have wanted…
I have a real, not dislike, that is the wrong word. I am confused with Religion. It causes SO MANY problems. On individual and a global scale. Here in Scotland Religion in the West KILLS people still. All in the name OF THE SAME GOD!!
God I have a relationship with, but in my home. I can’t go to church or partake in any religion. I speak with the great Eddie Tatro, a Bishop here: http://bishoptatro.wordpress.com/ We speak often on Skype (My username is shanyg1973 if you do, feel free Colin, I love to discuss and debate in a good say)
He told me Religion can cause issues also.
Maybe people are starting to see Religion causes division? I know it does from the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the West of Scotland, I am in the East…
Great Blog, I actually love reading your words Colin. You are a good man
God Bless
Shaun
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Shaun,
I would posit that you are allowing the blame for the evil machinations of men to fall upon religion. It is nothing but a convenient excuse for immoral behaviors promigulated by evil men seeking to exercise power and or authority over others. Do not allow such excuses. Men have free will, and choices have consequences. When men make evil choices, often many – if not the whole world suffers because of their arrogance and ignorance.
While someone may profess that God made him do it, or God’s will requires it – he is once again trying to justify his choice – if his choice were moral the justification would be obvious and there would be no need to clarify it, much less make excuses for it. Quis Ut Deus! (Who is Like God!)
I disagree that religion causes divisions. People cause divisions, and blaming religion is just a convenient excuse. There is no reason that different religions cannot coexist in a society so long as the all respect each others beliefs and their freedoms. Such coexistence means that we must overcome our tendency to “Libido Domine” and stop trying to convince or control our fellow man of our moral superiority by force. It also means that we must live in societies which recognize that no law can be made which is punitive or restrictive and not representative of the values the community as a whole all share in common. Morality is the basis of law, not the other way around – we must never forget that. Forcing your morality is a doubled edged sword, for once you have wielded it – what will next person to hold the sword do with it now that it is beyond your control. Never should a society allow speech or ideas to become crimes.
When men kill in the name of religion they commit an act of unspeakable evil. It is their evil, not Gods nor religions that is controlling their actions. It is their failure, not religions. When innocents are killed the evil is multiplied and the survivors often fall victim to the pernicious infection, leading to blood feuds and revenge. Wars which kill far more innocents than combatants start this way – but it is strange that you almost never see the instigators on the front lines. They choose to let others do their evil for them, subjected to their Libido Domine.
In the end it is Libido Domine which must be controlled – the desire to bend others to ones will. To in essence, restrict the exercise of free will in another person through force or coercion so that they do or say or act as you would have them do. Religion is just an excuse of tyrants who seek earthly wealth and power for themselves to exercise their Libido Domine.
Even in the troubles, while religion defines the sides of the conflict – the troubles began long ago for political, financial, and control issues and they are field today by those same issues. Persecution of Catholics continues to this day in the UK (Tony Blair converted AFTER he left the prime ministers office because it is illegal for a catholic to hold high office). Both sides of the conflict are infected by the original evil and the wound continues to fester untreated because neither side is willing or able to stop. But do not be fooled, it is the evil done by men and not by God or religion that we must fear. Earthly religious leaders are men with free will, and if they cannot control their libido domine, and equivocate their desire to commit evil with the will of God then they become very dangerous.
In summation, I do not fear any just religion – I fear its earthly leadership.
Colin
PS: With a last name of Corcoran – it probably dosen’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where my Grandfather and his family were from – or why they left.
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Took me a while to read.. lol
You say
“There is no reason that different religions cannot coexist in a society so long as the all respect each others beliefs”
I think in a perfect World this would be correct. Sadly people still murder in the name of the same God. I know in the end people make the choice alone through whatever means, but the choice is made through a religion. So often people act in the name of a religion. This is what I mean. And you keep saying “Men/Man” I know you are just Paraphrasing, but Woman do bad also. 2 killed many in Iraq last week as suicide bombers, in the name of religion. There are what? a Thousand or more religions on Earth, all looking to the same God, just in a different religious name. But there are about 20 main religions,,
There are about 21 major world religions today. About 1 billion people do not profess belief in any religion.
1. Christianity 2.1 billion
2. Islam 1.3 billion
3. Secular/Irreligious/Agnostic/Atheist 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion 394 million
6. Buddhism 376 million (see also buddhism by country)
7. Primal indigenous 300 million
8. African traditional and diasporic 100 million
9. Sikhism 23 million
10. Juche 19 million
11. Spiritism 15 million
12. Judaism 14 million
13. Bahá’í Faith 7 million
14. Jainism 4.2 million
15. Shinto 4 million
16. Cao Dai 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo 2 million
19. Neopaganism 1 million
20. Unitarian Universalism 800,000
21. Rastafari movement 600,000
I totally understand and respect fully what you say. I guess this is just friendly debate. I am trying REAL HARD to believe Jesus did what was said he did. I struggle. I am a man of Science. I need proof. For me to believe it would be blind and that would be wrong. But I do 100% believe in God. I have the proof. Too many times I have had prayers answered and on a few occasions seen with my own eyes things I asked for. I will tell you the stories one day. But they freaked me out at first, but in an instant I knew it was God talking to me.
Religion, just me personally I believe does more harm (Not God)
The link you added shows people are thinking the same world wide, so there must be a reason…
And Jesus, I do try Colin. I have had people preach to me and send me every piece of scripture there is, I can’t..I did this blog here. I included scripture from MANY bibles (This is another thing I don’t get, why all the bibles?, should there not just be one? lol)
The blog: http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/jeremiah-2531-want-to-talk-god-and-scripture/
Are you aware of this? Many throw scripture at me, but when I throw it back, NOTHING. And some put people off God by the inability to debate. One person told me “You are going to hell, ha ha “..This was a Christian..I was left gobsmacked, I didn’t know what to say. I was stunned a God loving person would Mock..These are the kinds of things that Religion does. Sometimes. Not all the time.
Please, I would be REALLY interested in your take of that blog Colin.It is undeniable. The noises are there, it was foretold..
Thanks mate, really good discussion.
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Shaun,
Man/men/mankind = humans in all my posts. If you haven’t noticed I’m not too into being politically correct and trying to pepper things with gender neutral nouns.
I stand by my assertion that you are blaming religion for the actions of humans that have free will. They make a choice to commit evil, knowing it is wrong regardless of their religious leaders affirmations. They place their faith in a human and not in God, and often that faith is misplaced. Even popes are not perfect – the infallibility doctrine applies only when he is speaking definitively on faith and morals or defining doctrine. No pope, no matter how rotten a human being he might have been, has preached heresy by trying to change dogma. It is a tenuous thread, but it gives me great hope.
As to this not being a perfect world, one man can summon the future – sometimes all it takes is for one person to step out and affirm what others now to be moral truth. Our current pope is doing so now. Your idea of a perfect world just involves expecting people to behave like moral human beings, not rutting animals. If your argument that the world is now so filled with selfishness and evil that you can no longer see this then remember that the light of a single candle can illuminate en entire darkened room. Be a light unto others in your words and actions – set an example for other to follow, and let them know they are not alone. They will step up.
As religions change with the times, people sign up quickly – but quickly fall away when the know it not to be true. Like the prodigal son, they must wander until they find the truth on their own and return or stumble back into the church. The article points that out too – these pop religions are long on promise and short on delivery. Everyone who is paying attention can see Gods fingerprints in their life, seeking him they keep looking – but thanks to pop religions and charlatans they wrongly see organized religion as the problem and not the splinter groups from the seat of Christ handed down to Peter and his successors. Others may never find their way home because they are not willing to walk the rocky path the Catholic faith requires.
As for the trumpets, we’ve had solar flares of unprecedented magnitude recently. As a ham operator (KF5UTP) I can assure you I’ve heard some strange things come over the radio and even in the open air when they hit. Sounds very similar to those reported. Check the space weather here – our sun is not acting according to the current year in the solar cycle. Sun spots are down, solar flares are frequent and excessively strong, the earths magnetic field is weaker than usual and all that does have effects on us. Particularly at higher latitudes. If the last days are coming then I want absolution from my priest and to die holding hands with my wife and my children. I don’t see that in those noises, unless the sun is about to go Nova unexpectedly, in which case we’re all toast.
As for proof, I have not personal experiences from having died and been resuscitated two different times. No I did not see God, or Jesus – but I know he exists. I know heaven, hell, and purgatory exist and that fewer will achieve heaven or purgatory than the number expecting it. I have a blog entry about this thats been sitting in draft for some time now. I would ask you instead to disprove God’s existence and then apply Occam’s razor. Once you have eliminated the impossible (that God doesn’t exist – since you cannot disprove God’s existence) – then whatever remains (That God exists) no Matter how improbable must be the truth. I no longer have faith so much as I have a modicum of proof, the evidence of my own experience which seems impossible to describe with the language available to me.
Also don’t ever be too sure where you’re going. That is for God to decide not us, judgement is reserved to him alone – and it is certainly not the purview of another human to prognosticate for the almighty Himself. The one thing my experiences taught me s that the mind of God s not the mind of man and Everything counts – especially the small stuff. So I try my best to live my faith.
Hope this helps –
Colin
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Thanks for the Reply Colin..
Sometimes grown up’s just have to agree to disagree I guess 🙂
I was being “Picky” with the woman comment. I am Scottish. We sometimes add humour when there should be none. So I can only say sorry.
Life is all about opinions. I don’t get angry (Not saying you are) when people don’t agree with one of my Blogs. The blog I just done for example, I expect HEAVY debate, but as a Soccer Manager at a REALLY high level for 15 years I learnt a long time ago, if we have opinions, we have to take the opinions that come back at us..
The blog I did on the noises in the Sky, I am assuming you listened to every single one? If not, you should, because these are not sun spots. As I say I am more a man of Science. I know a Sunspot can cause the Northern lights and know transformers out if they are bad, but cause noise in the sky? I don’t think that is possible..Especially when, as you can see 50% of the videos are in the middle of the night. If it was the Sun, it would be heard by everyone all over the world. It is not, it is being heard all over the world in different areas. But, that is your educated opinion, cool, seriously, I am not here to argue 🙂 I am here to blog and have fun..
You again have taken what I said about religion (NOT GOD Colin) and kinda twisted my words mate. Religion is a GOOD THING, it keeps people real. But the reality is, we are almost “ALMOST” arguing over it, so point proven? lol..Come on, its just debate by two smart lads with more than 2 brain cells between us. I am an educated man, but not on God or religion, so I can only give my opinion based on what I can see. I told you I had experiences with God, and I will blog it soon to share with you. it was REMARKABLE!
And Colin, Live your faith, I am a decent lad, I see you are a happy down to earth man, and if your faith works for you, BRILLIANT. That is what living should be. I have the most “Best Moments” awards on Earth and Blog for “Bloggers for peace” and “Master Peace” and I help out with “Playing For Change”
Our cause is one in the same, just coming from a different approach…A GOOD WORLD WITH PEACE! I did this blog and I PRAY others watch it and spread it as the message is amazing
http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/i-watch-this-every-day-to-remind-myself-i-hope-you-can-also/
and this http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/a-warning-to-the-usa-from-history/
I blog about what I see in our World. So as you can see, we are doing the same thing, just in a different way. As adults, compromise has to be made, or we are both children, yeah 🙂
I get what you are saying, I respect it 100%
But faith in God won’t make me any less happier than I am, I am a LUCKY MAN..
http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com/about-2/
Like you, I want a better world for the people in that picture.
Cheers Colin.
Good debate..
I hope you do Skype Audio, I would enjoy a chat with you, typing, we often misread. As you know.
Shaun
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Shaun,
Please don’t think I was angry. That is not the case. I was tired and in a bit of pain while I was typing that on my iPad and it likely colored the tone. Sorry.
The gender neutral thing almost seems out of hand in the US. People are going overboard, even changing the acceptable forms of common pronouns to ensure that we don’t discriminate in speech. If you’ve read my blog can see clearly how I think of women, and am sad at the price all women in this country are paying for their progress. The loss of respect for the mothers of our children is amazing, and frightening. Nobody even opens or holds a door for them and if you, you usually get a scowl or snide remark instead of a than you.
I did listen to the noises, all of them. And though I admit there were some beyond my ability to explain away as a natural phenomena, I am not ready to call it a sign of Christ’s return. In fact I pray it is not because so many people need more time to find their way. I want to believe very badly that everyone has time to find their way. It might be good to do the Skype so you can hear some of them right from the radio and see they time with the flares to the second. We have had flares so bad they took out NASA satellites hardened against them recently.
I used to worry about the apocalypse, but dying can change your outlook rather drastically. Each of us will face judgement. Usually not at a time or place of our choosing. Death comes like a thief in the night as well, and plucks us from this life prepared or not. I simply try to stay prepared.
To clarify, I wasn’t arguing about religions – just the people that lead them. Over zealous followers, led by evil men can do great damage. Anyone can come up with a clever one liner to support their position from almost every text. I have noted that the most dangerous of all try to use reason to justify breaking the natural law. In short just because people se them as an excuse (I agree they do that), it does not follow that they are right in doing so.
I’ll try to find some time for Skype as my home is a madhouse of activity most of the time so there is a lot of background “music” from the kids. If I can you’ll have to excuse the noise 🙂 of children playing, often more loudly than I’d like.
This is a much more engaging debate and much better thought out than most!
Colin
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Colin, please mate I did not think that. We both suffer pain and I take medication, I guess you do also Sir, so we are good. It is very hard to read a reply sometimes, we can all take things the wrong way or lose the meaning, if you follow 🙂 Thank however for clearing that up, you are a good man Colin.
And spot on the Woman part of things. I think being courteous to a woman, opening a car door, pulling a seat back, these are things I was ordered to do as a kid “Strangely as I had a childhood I could write a book about” I was taught and shown though actions of others to always respect woman. So it is just common practice to be nice and treat woman with the utmost respect ..Well said!
And the noises, I guess I was just throwing the idea out there. There are 10s of thousands of video’s and has Science scratching it’s head, and well said again, I like how you want more people to find their way, yeah! And on religion, yeah I can see where you are coming from a bit better now. Discussion is good, as we all are still learning. So thank you for being patient with me 🙂
And I will join the noisy children club lol..Two Daughters 2 and 4 years old, Two sons 19 and 21 years old, both with loud music coming from rooms, EVEN THOUGH I BOUGHT THEM HEADPHONES !! lol..And my two Daughters are just always fighting. Today, honest, they awoke at 8am or something, and fought for half an hour over 1 (one) shoe, Dawn my partners show. I shoe 🙂 I sat laughing trying not to let them see me. My 2 year old is 3 on Saturday so her talking is getting better. So always go, go, go in my house, and my two sons have girlfriends and friends over. I am glad I have my Laptop as well as my PC to hide away in a secluded part of the house 🙂
My username is shaunyg1973
Would be my honour to talk to you, we could debate other things also. I speak to 70 people or so from Word Press (Audio Only of course) On Skype. It is a brilliant way to get to know people better. I have made some terrific friends from the USA and my part of the World (Europe) as well as Australia, Russia, South African, and all over on Skype. My Scottish accent can be an issue, lol
Thanks for the reply, you are a good man Colin
Shaun
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Shaun,
No worries about the accent. My grandfathers brogue and the common Cajun dialect spoken here in south Louisiana mean I am accustomed to such things
I’ll try to get you on Skype, too bad you don’t have a ham radio. I haven’t worked Scotland yet on HF!
Colin
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Ham Radio, lol, I was talking to my Dad about that JUST this morning 🙂
He does not like computers or the internet, he says Ham Radio did it’s job. Trying to explain he could speak to his brother in Australia for FREE on Skype was like explaining maths to a dog 🙂
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Shaun,
You should check it out. We do data communications on ham radio all the time too. You will be shocked just how technical it can be. And the funniest part is you can make you own equipment and experiment in the process. Seriously. And unlike the Internet you have to pass a test to get on and use it.
Colin
KF5UTP
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I will ask my Dad for a loan of his. (He is like 400 mile North on an Island) but next time we are up, I will ask. I am a GADGET FREAK..LOL Seriously, love technology old or new..
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Shaun,
I wonder if that will work – depends on the antenna setup I guess. Mine would not be terribly portable because of the antenna being 60 feet up in the air (big trees to hang them from). I don’t know the specific rules for Scotland but you will need to pass you license exam to operate one. You might see if there is a local ham club that can get you started. A lot of 2meter repeaters are liked through the Internet so you can talk worldwide on a cheap handheld just like dialing a phone. The HF rigs can talk w old wise direct, voice and data. The fun is in building you own interfaces and equipment and antennas.
Colin
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Yeah my Dad said that is part of the thrill getting it built till it worked. Where I am I am almost in the woods. So somewhere to put a big antenna wouldn’t be an issue. Should be fun if I ever get a hold of his HRadio..
Cheers Colin
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