A close friend of my brothers is getting married. The wedding ceremony is a humanist event. This is the second person I know who chose a humanist event to get married. I heard about humanist events on the radio when the law was passed a few months back allowing athiests to get a legally recognised celebrant from the humanist assoc of Ireland to officiate the wedding. Im worried. Im worried for 2 reasons: 1. I know Im in a serious minority and most of my co-workers are young and militant athiest. When I say young I mean under 40. "Traditional" weddings are going to drastically reduce. 2. I confess my understanding on what exactly humanism is about was hazy. So I read up on the issue. Turns out, they are looking for equality for "non-religious". What they mean by "equality", is declaring war on Christianity. *No religious symbols in public places *The religious preamble to be deleted from the Irish constitution. *No religious oths for Judges etc *An examine of medical matters ( I assume the mean abortion on demand and euthanisa) Click on the following link to read the battle plan in full. http://humanism.ie/campaigns/ The battle is raging, truly raging, as St Pope JP II prophetically said " The battle between the Gospel and the anti-gospel."
Hi Torrentum if I may there are many more than two reasons to worry but your presence on the forum and more importantly your faith is a sign of faith. Despite being surrounded by atheistic ideology and it's victims you have truth. Remember Ancient Rome and the witness of the early Christians. Welcome to the colosseum my brother. As St John Paul often repeated Be not afraid!
I had to go to a Humanist funeral of a close family member a few years ago. It was such a desperately sad occasion. The Humanist minister gave what can only be described as a controlled rant against Religion and Philosophy. He insisted that this life is all there is and we'd better face up to it and that the thing to do is enjoy ourselves and live this life to the full with no regrets. The poor family had nowhere to direct their grief. There were no words of comfort at the pain of separation, no-one to share Good News or to make sense of death for them. It was the most empty ritual I have ever experienced. I and my children prayed our rosary quietly all the way through it. I have also been to a humanist naming ceremony ( weird how these non-religious folks seem to need these rituals and practices in order to express deeper truths ) which was equally meaningless. Having seen all the rest of the family get their kids baptised, they felt left out and so arranged for their kids to be "named" in a Humanist ceremony. They read out poems, planted trees and then assigned guardians over their kids. It was really embarrassing. I think humanism is not going to last. People are trying it out because they feel left out of religious celebrations and they are posturing a little by trying to make a slightly vacuous point. I get their point: atheists need religion too.
Well I hope your right Bella. But, and there is a big but here, very few my age and under believe. One girl I know got married in a registrar office. Another got married in a church, but just for the wedding. She never goes to church and only goes for funerals or weddings. I honestly believe, having seen the sparse attendance at my church each Sunday, and having experienced the attitude of most of my peers towards Catholicism, that humanist ceremonies will actually increase.
There is an old saying, 'There are not atheists in the trenches'. We are, the whole world about to be in the trenches together and I suspect the fires of suffering will burn away the dry wood of unbelief. Atheism stems from the pride and arrogance of being otally self reliant. But when the crutches of our own resources are taken away from us. I was once proud to be an atheist, till at the very bttom of the human dungheap I was forced to look out the wondow of my cell and see that there were indeed celestial stars. It s wonderful to keep the Faith in such hostile circumstances, someone somewhere is praying for you.
Padraig said, "It s wonderful to keep the Faith in such hostile circumstances, someone somewhere is praying for you." I rarely cry, but the thought of those unknown souls who prayed me into faith makes me weep every time I think of it. And I have the strongest sense that everyone living a committed life of faith in these times has generations of holy souls pulling for us. I really wonder if, knowing how dark the darkness would be, God stacked the cards a bit and actually bred us with a propensity for faith? Peter Kreeft once said that our guardian angels regard us sort of like pets. And a new forum member (remind me who it was!) said we are "high dollar" souls. Maybe we are the spiritual equivalent of show dogs! Instead of making me proud, this idea actually humbles me: to think that God bred natural inclinations and talents into us because they would be so necessary at the end of this age. Truly, like Queen Esther, we were born for such a time as this!
This is exactly the center of the matter. The atheists I know (95% of the people I know) are monumentally arrogant and, I sense, look down on me a little bit for believing "in works of fiction" as one man I know put it. I've often thought to myself that the people I know who do believe didn't have life all their own way, ie, they didn't have it easy - they had some serious challenges of health, finance, family, or some other circumstance. The atheists I know in the other hand, seem to have had everything "fall right for them" and, coupled with living in a time where education is available to Phd level and beyond, they rely on their knowledge a little too much, and think they know it all. I marvel sometimes at their arrogance: the scientific theories for the creation of the universe (and they are only theories) get updated regularly. Have you noticed that? Every couple of years, some new discovery is made which makes scientists change their models or update them significantly. Or, some new chemical \gene is identifying in the body, and biochemistry understanding is completly changed. The other day on BBC R4, I listened fascinated by the latest research, advising people not to fry using olive oil, as it may cause cancer if its burned. I listened to Marrion Finucane yesterday have an interview with a man giving us the latest update on how butter is probably good for you after all, not the low fat spreads we are all tools to embrace. One clear message comes from all the above - scientists haven't a clue. I feel sorry for the atheists who put their eggs in the basket of "the latest theories suggest".
