The Spiritual Crisis in America

[á´…eparted]

Christ is the only one that offers that salvation.

Thats just an opinion.

 

[Beorn]

Sources matter. If a shitty source says something you like and you think has value then you can likely find a better source that says the same thing and probably handles the topic even better.

 

[ceecee]

What specifically did you find ridiculous in the article, besides the Christ bit?

Sources do matter. First off, the article is from The Daily Wire which has a nearly extreme right bias. That makes it no better than an extreme left bias, regardless of what they're writing. Factual reporting gets a mixed rating. The article itself plays on fear, which is the RWA core motivator and why extreme sites like The Daily Wire and the Red Pill Times use it so extensively. This particular article begins with fear and ends with Christ. If you believe in Christ, all of the fear will magically go away. If everyone in the US believed in Christ, this...

Something is happening. Something bad.

...will disappear.

There is a very troubling combination coming together. We dehumanize each other while medicalizing and politicizing evil. The result is indifference and detachment all the way around.

All true. But simplifying the solution in this way...

Exactly the atmosphere where Satan thrives. It is the atmosphere of Hell itself, leaking like noxious fumes into our world. And there is only one antidote that really works. His name is Christ.

is right for Matt Walsh only. And for you and the people that subscribe to Christianity. Making the other 6 billion or so opinions invalid is not a very intelligent thing to do when the world is facing real problems that require a more inclusionary response.

 

[Grand Admiral Crunch]

The problem is we stopped slut-shaming, and I really think we need to start doing that again. The lack of slut shaming is somehow causing all of this.

 

[Justin of Flavia Neapolis]

[MENTION=4050]ceecee[/MENTION], thanks for explaining your interpretation. You may be missing the point by focusing in on Christ. I don't know that it's a Left/Right issue because this is the sort of thing Nietszche warned about when he proclaimed that God is Dead.

[MENTION=22178]magpie[/MENTION] and [MENTION=15392]Cellmold[/MENTION] both "got it".

It's more of a spiritual issue than a left or right political issue which is why I posted in here in the first place.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

The problem is we stopped slut-shaming, and I really think we need to start doing that again. The lack of slut shaming is somehow causing all of this.

No, we just need to keep our pimp hands strong

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

A little daily meditation (or prayer, if that's your bag) can go a long way in helping people heal and feel more spiritually whole. One need not believe in Christ or any other deity in particular, but I don't disagree there may be a spiritual crisis. I think even the strictest atheist can find some value in spiritualism. Spiritualism is defined as

a system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, especially through mediums.

OR

the doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter, or that spirit is the only reality.

I like to think of the spirit as the unique state that arises in us as the amalgamation of various chemical processes in our organic matter coming into play from the distribution and transmission of energy at every level down to the atomic and sub-atomic level. I do think in some sense we live on, if not in some cloud kingdom of heaven, then we at least live on as a part of the universe long after our bodies have ceased to breathe and decomposed. I guess that's more in line with paganism?

I don't know.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

I don't think it's necessary for people to be spiritual to be happy, but I do think many people would feel more fulfilled if they replaced their nihilism with existentialism.

 

[Red Memories]

I appreciate seeing someone being so firm about their faith here <3

While I am a Christian, I think any form of spirituality can be beneficial for someone. Nihilism seems to promote this apathetic, selfish nature where nothing matter. It makes me sad to see all these people with great potential seeing life as meaningless...

 

[á´…eparted]

People think nihilism can not be looked at positively. It can, and many people do. This sums up how I feel.

 

[ceecee]

[MENTION=4050]ceecee[/MENTION], thanks for explaining your interpretation. You may be missing the point by focusing in on Christ. I don't know that it's a Left/Right issue because this is the sort of thing Nietszche warned about when he proclaimed that God is Dead.

[MENTION=22178]magpie[/MENTION] and [MENTION=15392]Cellmold[/MENTION] both "got it".

It's more of a spiritual issue than a left or right political issue which is why I posted in here in the first place.

All I was suggesting is - when looking for spiritual guidance, the buffet is much bigger than only Christ/Christianity. It wouldn't hurt anyone to acknowledge that, especially Christians. I wasn't bringing nihilism or Nietszche into the picture at all.

 

[Mole]

America has a Christian Revivalist Culture that depends on periodic Revivals, and so periodic spiritual crises.

 

[Justin of Flavia Neapolis]

All I was suggesting is - when looking for spiritual guidance, the buffet is much bigger than only Christ/Christianity. It wouldn't hurt anyone to acknowledge that, especially Christians. I wasn't bringing nihilism or Nietszche into the picture at all.

By all means, do try the buffet. I advocate it. Some is better than none.

 

[FemMecha]

What about a focus on increased compassion?

There is a need beyond joining a religious organization because there can be a lot of unkindness and even cruelty in religious settings as well as other places. Sometimes I feel concerned that all of the rules of various religions distracts people from the true morality of having compassion and respect for their fellow creatures. I don't want to retell anecdotes here, but even as far back as the 1970's there was a lot of cruelty in religious institutions. The more secluded the organization, the more evil the outside world appears, and the lower the assumed bar for its morality. In these instances, religious institutions don't think it takes that much to be morally superior to those in the "secular" realm, but that isn't the case. The bar is much higher than many people think. I wish that my own experience could say that this is a positive correlation between kindness and organized religion, but I can't say there is. Moral growth is dependent on conscience, not externally imposed rules about concrete details of living. If there isn't love, it is just a clanging cymbal.

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13

 

[highlander]

It seems to me that the human tendency towards gossip and judging others has been put on steroids because of social media. The media has deteriorated into a bit of a sorry state. You really can't trust what you read on the Internet. As trite as it sounds, Trump is actually correct in his observation of "fake news". When the news media went from loss leader to profit center, sensationalism took over. The Internet and social media has only exacerbated this. Corporate greed. Profits. People's need to aggrandize themselves. Etc.

Is it a crisis in spirituality? I don't know. Look at how these guys are doing and maybe I have some questions.

Top 15 Richest and most Successful Pastors In the World (We promise that #1 will shock you) - ETInside

 

[Red Memories]

It seems to me that the human tendency towards gossip and judging others has been put on steroids because of social media. The media has deteriorated into a bit of a sorry state. You really can't trust what you read on the Internet. As trite as it sounds, Trump is actually correct in his observation of "fake news". When the news media went from loss leader to profit center, sensationalism took over. The Internet and social media has only exacerbated this. Corporate greed. Profits. People's need to aggrandize themselves. Etc.

Is it a crisis in spirituality? I don't know. Look at how these guys are doing and maybe I have some questions.

Top 15 Richest and most Successful Pastors In the World (We promise that #1 will shock you) - ETInside

100% true here.

 

[Justin of Flavia Neapolis]

There is a Greek Orthodox church locally. Can't wait to check it out.

 

[Jaq]

I think religion has a nice intention in some ways, but from personal experience, I've found that there are just too many and too many people who act hypocritically to their own tenants.

No one is perfect, yet religions try to impose a sort of perfect life model. I recognize though, that I'm probably misinterpreting a lot about religion. Just think that chasing a type of perfection that is never going to be achieved can be damaging to the mind and is totally unhealthy.

 

[Lark]

All I was suggesting is - when looking for spiritual guidance, the buffet is much bigger than only Christ/Christianity. It wouldn't hurt anyone to acknowledge that, especially Christians. I wasn't bringing nihilism or Nietszche into the picture at all.

Yeah but if you fancy proper food rather than a buffet there's the one, the only, holy, roman and apostolic church!



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I think religion has a nice intention in some ways, but from personal experience, I've found that there are just too many and too many people who act hypocritically to their own tenants.

No one is perfect, yet religions try to impose a sort of perfect life model. I recognize though, that I'm probably misinterpreting a lot about religion. Just think that chasing a type of perfection that is never going to be achieved can be damaging to the mind and is totally unhealthy.

Do you think that's religion at its worst or at its best?

 

[Justin of Flavia Neapolis]

Yeah but if you fancy proper food rather than a buffet there's the one, the only, holy, roman and apostolic church!

ceecee goes to Golden Coral.

Just kidding. I'm sure ceecee goes to Red Lobster and orders seconds.