Joe Hoffmann

Journal

Challenges to Faith

Challenges to Faith

            Throughout the course we have learned about our faith in many different places.  In becoming aware about our challenges to faith we can better fight these challenges and strengthen our faith.  We have covered our own challenges to faith all of the way to challenges from Atheism and Science.

I

            In class we watched a presentation by John Kavanaugh.  In the movie he explains many of the problems in today’s society.  He explains one of the main dilemmas in our society when he asks the question, “What really educates us?”  His answer to the question is our media, such as television and magazines.  We learn that what we take in from the television is the right thing and the real world so we learn to act like people do on television.  The people who broadcast our news form our nation, we believe what they tell us.  As John Kavanaugh said, “Information is formation.”  I find myself being formed by the media all the time.  I don’t get my information on politics and the world from anywhere but the television, so my views and beliefs are formed around the television.

II

            We watched another movie in class pertaining to media and what it does for youngsters called the “Merchants of Cool.”  This movie was all about advertising and how ad agencies try to find out what’s “cool” to young people these days.  In order to make money, ad agencies and others such as MTV have to show what young people view as cool.  What some consider “cool” isn’t always the right thing.  These ad agencies don’t care about the morals behind what they are showing to youngsters as long as they are making money from it.  It is when we start to believe what the media is telling us that causes challenges to our faith.

III

            We participated in another activity during this section that pertains to learning about our “challenges to faith” that was not part of the lesson plan.  Going to Reconciliation made me think about challenges to my faith.  For the first time in a long time I felt at ease and comforted after Reconciliation.  I thought about not going to reconcile my sins, because usually it is just me spitting out the same thing to the priest and getting nothing out of it.  This time I opened up to the priest and I got a lot out of Reconciliation.  After this experience I would consider not going to Reconciliation an impediment in our faith.  This helped me understand what I was doing wrong and how I needed to act to fix it.

Materialistic World