Week 11: Is Society Secularizing?

I do not think that our society and/or the world is currently secularizing. As our textbook stated, more and more people are being drawn to religion because of uncertainties in their own lives. People need something to hold onto to give them hope in these troubling times. It may seem that, in many ways, religion is taking a back seat to other institutions in our society, such as education and technology, but more and more, people are looking for meaning through spirituality.

I, personally, have always considered myself removed completely from religion. I have a Catholic mother and Methodist father who decided to raise their children, as I like to call it, “Commercial Christians.” In other words, we worshipped the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, but never stepped foot in a church. But here’s the funny thing: my brother, sister, and I all married Catholics and all three of us send our children to Catholic schools. So, I, in a sense, embody the idea that we are not secularizing, but instead are becoming more religious. Will I convert and become a Catholic? Maybe. My children hate the idea of me someday burning in Hell while they sit up in Heaven.

My problem with embracing religion of any kind is that, as an adult, it’s so hard to suddenly decide to believe that there are one or many all-powerful beings that created the universe and are shaping your life in any way. It seems kind of silly to me. I truly believe that if I had been brought up as a child to believe in Jesus, I would not have a problem. But at this point, I really can’t see it happening any time soon. 

I have discussed this topic with a few of my friends who live in the South and are extremely religious and I’ve explained to them how I feel. What they all agree is that I probably just haven’t had a reason yet to grasp onto religion. Each of my devoutly Christian friends has said that there has been some sort of traumatic event in their lives that has driven them to find meaning or a purpose in life. They’ve turned to religion when they needed something to hold onto. I, on the other hand, have never had a close relative die, I’ve never been in a near-death situation, and I’ve lived a pretty nice life so far, not really wanting for anything. I don’t feel the need to have religion at this point.

But, going back to the purpose of this blog entry, I do believe there are many people right now fighting poverty, economic distress, and different crises in their lives that almost certainly are looking for something to give it all meaning. And that’s why I believe religion is continuing to grow throughout the world and we are not secularizing.