Eric Lampe

Journal

Challenges to Faith

12/6/06

 

Summary

In this chapter we see the different challenges to faith that we experience today. Some of the challenges are atheism, scientism, and dehumanization. We also saw in great detail how our Culture can challenge us in the movie Merchants of Cool and the speakings of Fr. Kavanaugh. In the challenge of Atheism we saw two famous atheists Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Hobbes and then we saw them compared to Ignatius Loyola who was a Catholic priest who started the Jesuit order. Friedrich Nietzsche was interesting to say the least. He did not think you should try to fight back the human instinct that he called will to power. Humans desire to have as much power as possible and so why fight that. Nietzsche thought people should do everything they could to gain as much power as possible. Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher who was also an atheist but believed that truth could be achieved through reason which Nietzsche did not. Hobbes had a philosophy called materialism. Materialism is the belief that there is nothing beyond physical matter. Ignatius Loyola described his worldview in “The First Principle and Foundation.” We discussed the challenge that science brings and the Catholic view on science and the history of science and Faith. We also talked about the four limitations of the scientific method. We finished up the readings with the power dehumanization has and what it can do.

 

“We may not need the shirt but we hunger for the prestige associated with it”

John Kavanaugh, S.J.

I can really identify with this quote I know it rings true in my life. Hearing people say that the media controls me or something I tend to be like well no it does not I am my own person. In defense of myself I think for a normal teenager in the United States I am my own individual however when I read this quote by Fr. Kavanaugh I knew that I may not be as original as I sometimes think I am. In this case I thought of my want for Ralph Lauren Polo shirts. These shirts if you think about it are kind of ridiculous I mean they are the same as any other shirt but they cost 60 dollars. My mom would always say all you’re paying for is the little pony on the shirt. This was true because I wanted people to know it was Polo because there was a prestige that came with that Polo (at least I thought) that said you were a wealthy and fit and good looking man. It is only just a shirt but that shows how much power Polo marketing has on people like me.

 

Reflective Unity: 1900-present day

In the readings book it says that the relation ship between science and faith has gone through 3 stages. It says that at first there was Unreflective Unity and that was unity between church and science because there wasn’t really science as we know it today so they peacefully coexisted. When the enlightenment came around there was the development of the scientific method, the science we know today, and there was reflective disunity in which people studied science and religion and decided that they could not coexist. The reading book claims that in the 20^th century there has developed a reflective unity between science and faith however I am skeptical of this. I am skeptical of this because of the presentations we did prior to beginning this chapter. It seemed in the discussions of the challenges to Faith that the general consensus was that one of teens’ biggest challenges to Faith was science. I think the readings book has some truth to what they are trying to say I just think by asking normal teens like us it seems to contradict slightly what the book is saying.

 

Dehumanization

I found this to be one of the most interesting parts of the chapter. When we heard about the U.S. soldier in Iraq who raped and killed a family over there I found it very hard to understand how someone could do that however I understood better when the news commentator talked about how the soldier had seen so much killing that it had changed him. It is hard for me to imagine a situation where just being in a place for an extended period of time could do this to someone. It fascinated and I don’t think that it makes it right or O.K. but I can at least understand now how something like that would happen. If your life consist of killing these people and watching your brothers in the army get killed by them then it could cause you to generalize them as all the same and evil and not human.

Hitler...Ubermensch

 

QUESTION: Is it possible to escape the grasp that the media and corporate world has on me as a young person?

I don’t think it is possible to do this because I think it is inevitable that we will in some way be affected by the media. Granted it would be possible if I lived in the polar ice caps with no T.V. or connection to the world that I know however I just don’t think that it would be worth it to do that because the T.V. and corporate world isn’t all bad it has many advantages that make my life easier. With all this said I think I can limit the amount of the control that the media has over me by reminding myself that maybe it’s not worth it to pay 40 more dollars for Polo than any other brand shirt.

 

Becoming a more faithful person

I think in the long run to become the most faithful person I can be I need to prevent myself from falling into the trap of becoming a practical atheist. I need to not shy away from the responsibility that being a Catholic brings. Even if I would end up changing my faith or something in the future I can’t shy away from being religious because then I would fall into the “I don’t care” category of religion and I don’t want to be that.