Spiritualism - Lesson #9

Spiritualism - Lesson #9

The individualisation, and therefore fragmentation, of western society is the direct consequence of secularism. Descartes conceived the universe as a huge machine to be studied while Locke took this a stage further when he said: "I am because I think" i.e. man is the judge of what is true (as the basis of logic). Consequently, with the universe as nothing more than a machine all gods, ghosts, and spirits were eliminated with man becoming master of his own destiny through the subjugation of the earth. Secularism denies (as "truth") the existence of God. Yet truth is a slippery term that may be perceived as subjective, objective or pragmatic. So, for example when an atheist states: "there is no God" this is a contradictory statement for it claims as "truth" what the atheist has denied to be true! These kind of logical arguments can be taken in many directions. Secularism denies the objectivity of anything – all things are "relative" and therefore subject to human decision making – which has been disastrous for western cultures.
Secularism elevates man, and man alone, to the position of master of his own destiny. How? Through "reason." It is reason alone that is able to solve every problem befalling humanity. And to be fair it is a worldview that has brought many benefits e.g. limitless food production, technological advance, medicine, genetics, and so on. However, much has also been lost e.g. pollution, over population, discontent and futility (life has no meaning or purpose for when we dies that's it). In the context of this study the breakdown of the family and the fragmentation of society (and erosion of culture) are also major features of secularism as is the loss of spirituality. Individual development, at the expense of others, is advocated as the noblest end of life i.e. to stand on your own feet and be yourself and to fill your life with "activity" so as not to linger too long over one's fears. The downside is that children are impatient of parents who are then side-lined or shunted off to an old-people's home much to the horror of, for example, people from African cultures. There was an interesting programme on the BBC recently where a group of celebrities went to India to see if it would be a suitable place to retire. The conclusions were startling. The celebrities from England discovered just how much British culture has lost in terms of togetherness, family and society – also spirituality. And they liked what they saw even though Indian society is caste based and, for the most part, poor. It was a real eye opener for them.
Within western culture the family is breaking down with children closeting themselves away in their bedrooms taking their meals there apart from others members of the family. And in neighbourhoods, where houses are closely packed together (as in England for example) people often do not know their neighbours with the result that the elderly, who live alone, die and lie undiscovered in their homes for days on end.
Consciousness is also a slippery term. No-one knows what consciousness is or even if human-beings are conscious all the time or just some of the time. For example if a person walks into a room to collect a book etc after leaving the room they are conscious that there was much in the room that they were unaware of (out of consciousness). It's the same when driving a car. A person my drive from A to B without being conscious at all of working the pedals, changing gears, looking in the mirror, negotiating intersections, rotaries, traffic lights and so on. And at journey's end they may have no recollection at all of the journey. Yet something within their consciousness carried out all those functions while their thinking was elsewhere.
The "fight or flight" syndrome is another example of consciousness acting on its own without any help from us. Even before the perceived danger has registered in the brain the autonomic nervous system (involuntary) has taken over. Blood will be surging through the veins, (with the face growing pale), food in the stomach regurgitated (there's no need of food if I die), adrenalin will be realised into the blood-stream to heighten alertness, the palms of the hand may become sweaty and hair may quite literally stand on end. All this is beyond the power of the individual to control. The body is preparing to defend itself against a life-threatening danger. Psychologists tell us this syndrome originates from a primitive part of the brain from when humans were hunter gathers in constant danger from predators. In fact psychologists tell us that during the evolutionary process the brain has added new bits on to itself (some of which are now redundant) which we're now stuck with! As a qualified hypnotherapist I have witnessed personally the power of the subconscious mind helping people to overcome difficulties in their lives – secularism would deny this.
In the many funerals I conduct I always emphasise the importance of family, (of being part of each-others lives) to make life meaningful, fulfilling and worth living. We need each other (no man is an island) for the sharing of gifts, talents, passing on wisdom and sharing love (which binds us all together for all time). It is this that western culture has lost- the concept of the whole people of God in community together. Secularism cannot give us this – soul, spirit, mysticism etc are beyond its remit. Only love (which is the ground and essence of God) can fan the soul into a relationship with him. People are at last waking up to this. Relationships are intuitive, emotional and spiritual all of which negate secularism.

Rog

Feb. 19th 2016