5. How Did Questioning Become Inescapable?
Contemplating Culture: A Missionary Walk Through A Secular AgeShow Notes
We begin Part 1, The Work of Reform. Over the coming episodes we will be exploring the dynamics at play that caused a flurry of movements that set out to "remake" society, rather than acceptance of the stability of how things were.
In this episode we begin Chapter 1, the Bulwarks of Belief. Belief was held in place by three key fortresses, and as each of these began to be taken out from the wall and examined, suddenly the pastures outside belief became a possibility. In 500 years Western society went from Christian faith for the masses to a state where even the Christians remaining cannot help but be posed with the question of why they choose faith when there are so many other viable options; questioning has become inescapable. The next few episodes will delve deeper into each of these bulwarks.
Reflections:
How did I end up with the beliefs I have about God and the world? What keeps me here? What is the reason for the hope that I have?
References:
Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor: (25-26)
Cartoons: https://sites.google.com/view/contemplatingculture
More from Contemplating Culture: A Missionary Walk Through A Secular Age
In this episode we look at the changing shape of religion post WWII, taking the American case as an example. Here we see the interlocking and reinforcing interplay of family/church/state start to unravel in favour of the seeker, who has no set beginning, end, or path. We note that whilst this search is often seeking fullness in terms of humanism (for the good of the human person), this doesn't always have to be at odds with a genuine faith in the transcendent.
In our milestone 50th episode we set about delivering a summary of the nature, rules, and people that can be found in the Age of Authenticity's marketplace of faith. Listen through for a special memento to celebrate the milestone with us!
What impact did the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s have on how people understood and interacted with the sacred? What has the response of the faith been to this dramatic shift in the western world? Together we explore these questions, and look ultimately to the teaching of Pope St John Paul II as a treasure trove the Age of Authenticity in understanding the beauty of the sexual ethic of the Catholic Church.
Like every other age, the Age of Authenticity has its own set of ethics and goals. In this episode Kat opens up what it is like being a formator in a religious community and a spiritual director in the midst of this age, particularly when elements of the age seem at odds with the nature of religious life or Christian discipleship.
With the rise of migration from rural areas into cities, people were displaced from community and there was a felt lack which provided the perfect ground for the emergence of the Age of Mobilisation. Many societal structures and efforts of evangelisation were based around the needs and nature of this Age. In this episode we explore what some of the elements of the Age of Mobilisation were, and the enduring impacts of it into Western society today. References: -Pages of A Secular Age, Charles Taylor (pp 437-472)