Chapter Two Blog

Does Belief in God Demean Us?

I don’t personally believe belief in god shames us today; however I do believe that faith today is very different than faith in past years. I do identify with George Weigel when he states “Sunday looks very different today than it did even sixty or seventy years ago” (page 19). People are always on the go and it has been that way since before I was even born. Fifty years ago stores were closed on Sundays, families worshiped together, and families spent time together. In the twenty years that I have been on this earth stores have been opened and it’s almost rare that families worship together or even spend time with each other. I often wonder if maybe life was better when times were simpler and less hectic than they are today.

George Weigel also states that “Others are genuinely skeptical that human beings can know the truth of anything, much less the truth of ultimate things” (page 19). The previous statement I tend to agree with. Even though I practice the Catholic faith and I do believe in God for the most part, I also have a problem with trust like many people. I think that part of the reason that many people have trouble fully believing is because we have been taught that there is a scientific explanation to everything. Many people also have trouble believing because they think if there’s a God than why do bad things happen, and many times people don’t want to hear that everything happens for reason or that there is always a cause and effect. There have also been so many different theories that have been proven or disproved that people probably don’t know what to believe anymore.

From a Catholic stand point, I notice that many people have lack in trust because they think that the church is a whole set of made up laws. In my own perspective I sometimes agree. Many times I wonder why we practice certain things or believe in certain things. However, it always seems that the answers we receive always an answer of because we do or that’s just how it is. I personally believe that if we were actually explained what we believe and why there would be more of a response rate. People don’t respond to be told what to do, so maybe that does support Weigel’s thought that people view God as an enemy of freedom (page 19). However, I don’t think its God that they view to be the enemy more than they do the church.

All in all I don’t think that we think believing in God demeans us. I feel that the way the world has changed so much that the way be show our faith has as well. I’m not saying that people believe less in organized religion, but I am saying that many don’t realize that people have their own ways of showing their faith. It’s not that people today believe less in God, and it is certainly not the case that they feel shamed to believe. Everyone has their own belief, but not everyone has the same, and just because certain people have the same doesn’t mean they show it the same way.