Contemporary Threats to Faith From the Outside

Ks. Bogdan BielaContemporary threats to faith are closely related to contemporary atheism and post-modernism. For post-modernists there is no absolute truth, the truth is relative. Therefore what we are facing today is christianofobia. Although the Christian faith is tolerated as an identity and an outlook on life, criticism of a liberal approach to human rights and Christianity’s authority to define human rights and respect for the dignity of human nature is not accepted. Among other threats to faith the following may be listed: mass media that not only prefer horizontalism without any referral to transcendence, but also are full of violence and sex and skilfully manipulate audience, vanishing domestic environment of faith, split-up families, consumption which leads to egoistic approaches, comfort-loving nature, lack of time for spiritual life, lack of the sense of sin, religious syncretism, subcultures, cults and sects, religious ignorance, looking for acceptance among “non-believers” and anti-clericals, weekend off-sites in corporate companies, inability to celebrate Sunday and economical migrations. A Christian who really bothers about a contemporary atheism, experiences it as both accusation and a challenge. He accuses himself of being an accomplice of atheism because he does not experience his faith or treats it only superficially. The challenge is to bear witness to God and therefore to reject the way of life as if God did not exist. It is closely related to taking up the idea of a “new evangelization” and implementing the evangelization-and‑catechumenal model of pastoral work.Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach9396