Secularism vs. Religion...

       We live in a society that is either secular or religious, then there are the societies that are a mix of both. American society use to be that unique mix of being both religious and secular, and where no one worked Sunday's so that they could go to church then after-ward’s be with the family. That was the age of the blue laws, laws that limited what business could be open. But there has been a dramatic shift over the last thirty years to a more secular society. Religion still plays a part in our society but it has increasingly moved to the edges of our lives as the blue laws were lifted, and the pressures, demands of employers that employee's be available to work Sundays'. Thus secularism the notion that religion plays no role in our daily lives has allowed for unrestrained capitalism to take over our lives. We have come to live in a world that demands workers be available 24/7 to meet the demands of the consumer. Therefore secularism is the umbrella that is inclusive of anything that might be a part of the capitalist nature. Capitalism if left unrestrained seeks to push religion out of the way so that it dominates society. We have to ask does this mean that capitalism and religion are at war with each other? If they are at war with each other its because of whats valued the people. The people being society. Therefore the value to society is to have businesses open so that consumer demands and wants are met, when the consumer wants. Thus the role of capitalism seeks to meet and full fill those needs of the consumer, which on any day of the week is right and just. But when businesses have to be open on Sundays we that we have whole sectors of the economy that are open for businesses as usual. But for businesses to be open on Sundays requires that employee's be available to work. By working weekends employee's loose the time that they would have spent going to religious services and spending quality time with the family. One way to counter this secular dominance is society would be for to religion to see its self as a service. Thus being a service wouldn't it be better for religion to offer services during the week? For the Catholic church this would entail offering a full scale mass during the week rather than the shortened daily version that has been traditional. This in turn might encourage more people to attend church. The church could set up an offertory box at the entrance to the church vs. the poor box and passing the plate, those who do not give on the weekend could be encouraged to give during the week.

Its not that capitalism, and religion are at war for dominance in society, its what value do we place at having one or the other? Religion needs to break tradition and meet the needs of consumers/worshipers or rather the faithful if you prefer. Religion needs to see its self as a service to society. The very nature of service it provides is moral guidance, and the reverence, worshiper of the most high. The problem with religion is that it takes on a attitude of superiority and that all should kneel before religion, even capitalism. Its with this attitude that the supposed conflict arises between capitalism and religion. But what is missing on the part of religion is the realization that the people who worship at its churches, temples, mosques must work to survive. By working and surviving and attaining the means by which to take the time to worship, people are more likely to be generous in both in time and money towards religion. Religion should not look at capitalism as a threat but as the very means by which worshipers work to survive in this world. Thus it is religion that should show humility and offer religious services not only on the traditional religious days of the week but in the middle of the week on which the majority of weekend workers might have off. It might mean offering services every day of the week or a couple days of the week. Regardless of when the services are, religion needs to recognize that it is the workers/ worshipers who it needs to lead and guide in the the worship of the most high. By serving the needs of the people religion is serving the most high. Therefore religion and secularism can coexist if religion were to show humility and creativity by servicing the needs of the people.

Though we could look at the issue of secularism vs. religion from another angle. When has or does secularism bow down to religion? The answer to that question lies in the idea that there could possibly be some major attitude shift in society. Whereas society for some reason becomes more religious and demanding that society as a whole follow religious norms. Such a shift could occur if some religious figure were to emerge that had both religious authority and secular authority. Through such thinking we can see that as religion has lost its authority, it has lost its importance to society we can see the rise of secularism as religion has declined in the value of society. Thus the notion of religion submitting to secularism and seeing its self as a service to the people because it is the people who still seek moral guidance, but on the other hand reject the notion of moral superiority of religious elders since they lack any secular power by which they might enforce religious edicts. Furthermore we can take the idea of religion a step even further and say the religion becomes a religion of the people. Or rather a church of the people for the people with the express purpose of worshiping the almighty. Thus the role of the church elders goes into meeting the needs of the faithful.

So does religion have to be at odds with capitalism or secularism? Religion does not, nor should it be at odds with capitalism, but it can enhance and be the moral guiding light of choice thereby enhancing the consumer experience. But on the other hand secularism has no place for religion, and the only way for religion to be a more popular option than secularism is to not only understand better than secularism, but to be better at serving the needs of the people.

Eric.............