#102: The Decline of Religion: Why Faith Is So Hard in the Postmodern World

Intellectual Freedom Podcast

For an atheist, faith seems to be an impossibility. For a practitioner of Christianity or any religion for that matter, it is hard to maintain faith. But why?

We live in a superficial world. In many ways, the religious institutions of the west mirror this superficiality. It has created lukewarm Christians—the Christmas and Easter-type practitioners of Christianity are a prime example. All religions appear to be facing similar problems.

A deep reverence for the immutable power of God is replaced with a mechanical and quasi-robotic going through the motions at best. Or, at worst, charlatans and deviants take advantage of their congressions sexually or monetarily. Atheists refuse even to consider anything from religious institutions.

To say faith is in trouble is an understatement.

In the middle of the extremes are a group of pastors and priests with self-righteousness, judgemental, and hypocritical lifestyles, causing an entire generation of young adults to relinquish their faith. They see the actions and attitudes of the devout and simply don’t want to be a part of it.

The proof is irrefutable, and Gen Z (aka the Zoomers), our youngest generation, is the least religious generation yet, with a whopping 34% entirely unaffiliated with any church or religion. (1)

The Medieval Mystical Tradition

Our modern calamity in the death of faith, in many ways, could be reversed or at least minimized by understanding and implementing the wisdom from the great mystical traditions of the Christian church.

In this episode, we evaluate the fantastical and metaphysical when mystics in the Christian tradition left the baby pool of spirituality and dove into the deep water of Christianity to emerge with insights and ideas for revival at the personal and institutional levels. We will evaluate their teaching and incredible stories of other-worldly experiences.

There is a hunger by so many for profound and meaningful messages of hope, love, and community that requires a perspective closer to the medieval mystics than the mega-church pastor with polished white teeth and a 10,000-seat church with rock music playing in the background.

This episode helps shine a light on why humanity is losing faith in religion and those metaphysical aspects of religion beyond the typical culprits of science and materialism.

A profound yearning for more is still embedded inside the psyche of us all. The medieval mystics can illuminate ways to tap into it.
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