Wandering Mind of the West

What's the matter with religion???

I write this as a person of faith.  There are things in this world that have been changed, in a positive way, because of people of faith.

Yet, in this day and age, especially when fundamentalism runs into the secular values of the West.

First we must understand that our current understanding of secularism, actually has its roots in Christian philosophical discourse.  It did not seek to create secularism, yet when you stretch the mind, couple that with poor examples of "Faith", eventually this was bound to happen and in reality has happened throughout history.

The biggest thing that "Faith or Religion" has, when it is devoid  from "ratio" or "reason", it creates a culture that separates itself and eventually will clash in Western Culture.  I want to be clear that this manifestation does not only find itself in Islam, though, as I have written before many segments have been devoid to reason or philosophical development. This finds itelf rooted in any part of a "Fundamentalism" that is out there.  In the US, we see this with many "separatists and home grown terrorists".

One thing that I find,especially in light of the recent events in Belgium you are seeing this clash.  I will go in further depth with these areas later, but you are seeing a manifestation of fundamentalism when it encounters secularism in the West.  Most people of faith will see secularism as the reason for denigration in society, I will argue it actually gives and challenges faith to have to become real and if done right, can manifest itself in a meaningful way.

Belgium, though small is a society that does live very free, there are ways you see this.  I am amazed, even the day after, people want to take to the streets, not with guns, or bombs or violence, yet they want to go into public places, join together and commemorate and experience that freedom, which they will reaffirm and live.  To go out and gather, to have a coffee or a beer, is a defiant act to those who wish to instill fear, somehow thinking that it takes their faith to a new level.  It is this dichotomy which will continue to play itself out.

Terror will not defeat the values of the West, in fact I think it will strengthen those values, it will reawaken to ground itself both in the philosophical foundation's that have been laid, as well as venture to new ways of meaning of this culture that influences much of the world.

#JeSuisBrussels

Douglas Langner March 26, 2016