Challenges to Faih
A personal reflection...
forced to deal with, like the consumerist nature of society, and the
influence of atheism and scientism. Fr. Kavanaugh's views on advertising
truly do get at the heart of the problem and describes my own feelings on
the issue. Products in the world today are pitced to us as if they were
necessary and vital for our happiness. The products names even suggest
that they will provide for you human qualities like "hope," "love," or "lust,"
this is the dehumanization of society when people's identites start to be
defined by a product. So, I must realize that the sole goal of the companies
are to sell me a product, as opposed to a purpose of truly bettering myself
as a person, no product is able to do that. Nevertheless, the consumeristic
nature of society and advertisements cause me to actually want the item
they are showing to me. It is sometimes difficult for to think deeper on the
issue and discover I really don't need that thing.
Besides consumerism challenging my Faith and world view, there are
the ideas of atheism, regardless if it is positive or practical, and also
scientism. When I find myself getting lax or lazy in my Faith I sometimes
wonder if I am slipping into practical atheism, which is when a person
technically "believes" in a religion, but doesn't participate or care.
Therefore, I realize that I must remain devout to avoid this dilema.
However, I find scientism to be an even greater threat. Although, I find
science interesting and I enjoy learning about it, I can't take away my Faith
in God and instead put my complete faith in science. It is a challenge to
find the "happy medium" between the two. In conclusion, there are many
challenges to my Faith and I must learn how to combat them with the help
of God as my guide.
