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1. There are many challenges to our Faith. The big ones are atheism, scientism, materialism, or consumerism. Positive atheists, who make a conscious decision that there is no God, challenge our Faith by making us question our own beliefs if God exists or not by appealing to our emotions like what Nietzsche did. Then we have to make sure we don't become practical atheists, by not practicing our religion and not showing any effects of it on our daily lives. Scientism has been a big challenge to Faith that really started with the Renaissance and then the Enlightenment when people began to think they could solve all their problems with reason and science. People pushed religion aside because none of it could be proved and it was too much skepticism. After that though, they realized that science didn't answer the important questions like the meaning of life and so they turned back to religion to look for those answers. Consumerism and materialism, as shown in "Merchants of Cool" and Fr. Kavanaugh's video, are forming today's society into people who value material things, sex, and gaining more social status so their faith is continually lacking.
2. First, I'd like to remember the stories of Aaron Feurnstein and Danny Meyer because they are great examples of men of strong faith and Faith in a largely corrupt business society.
Second, the idea of practical atheism. I have to keep in check the state of my Faith so that it does not become practical atheism by considering my religion and its teachings before making moral decisions.
Third, Fr. Kavanaugh's video and teachings that all the advertisements in the media are shaping us as humans, most of the time without us being aware of it. I'd like to keep this in mind so that I do not follow that road of letting the media form my values.
3. The Buddha. One of my big challenges to Faith is other religions. |
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4. Is my Faith, my beliefs in Christianity and Catholicism, really affecting my daily life and the major moral decisions i make? If someone observed my life for a day, could they tell that if I was Christian or not by my decisions and behavior?
5. I think I should try to make my Faith a bigger part of my daily life and really think about something before I do it, if this will bring me closer to my goal in life of becoming closer to God. Then I should be more aware of the advertising in the media and make sure that is not forming my belief and values. Finally, I think I should study more view points and beliefs on the existence of God, meaning of life, and stuff like that because I think that questioning my Faith is a big step into strengthening it. |
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