At the time of this revelation, the prevailing intellectual and philosophical climate of both European and American life is decidedly secular — humanistic. For three hundred years Western thinking has been progressively secularized. Religion has become moreand more a nominal influence, largely a ritualistic exercise. The majority of professed Christians of Western civilization are unwittingly actual secularists.[1]
While many in our society pay lip service to faith there is little true recognition of the presence of God in our everyday lives; there are many who sincerely believe and acknowledge God, but the mass of our society is not so inclined. Some who attend church do not carry these beliefs over into their everyday social and business interactions.
One important result of this secularization is the worth of each individual is not recognized; since each of us is indwelt by a fragment of our Heavenly Father, each individual has purpose, value, and meaning. As a result of this ignorance of our Father’s presence, people become alienated and isolated; they feel powerless, which produces random acts of violence as marginalized people strike out in frustration. There is also a distrust of anybody who is different in some way, anybody with a different skin color or religion; many people trend to not trust individuals unlike themselves.
Members of a secular society do not realize life continues after physical death; their lives are therefore driven by short term goals rather than seeking lasting, even eternal goals. Our lives certainly extend in to the eternal future if we so choose but those in a secular society are not aware of this.
Members of a secular society are not aware God is actually present, that we have a fragment of our Heavenly Father as a part of our being, guiding each one of us toward a greater realization of spiritual reality. Ignoring this spark of God within cheapens our value, our meaning for society; not recognizing God within demotes each person to mortal status, rather than having a potentially eternal status.
A secular society, not having our Heavenly Father to bring it unity, is characterized by conflicts between various segments of society. These conflicts will certainly tear that society apart because there is nothing to bring unity, cohesion; a society without a firm spiritual underpinning cannot long exist.
Since such a society has no recognition of the reality of God, there is no feeling of true brotherhood, little awareness we are all sisters and brothers under the fatherhood of God. A secular society will certainly be torn apart, primarily because of the lack of any feeling of unity, the lack of brotherhood.
As a result of this, there will also be other ways in which such a secular society will be torn apart. The most obvious of these will be conflicts between ethnic groups; humans are put off by anyone who looks different from them, especially in skin color. We seem naturally to fixate on superficial characteristics like skin color while ignoring the value of the person within that skin. Racial antagonism can tear apart secular societies.
Another obvious area of conflict will be between the various religious groups; we have a tendency to distrust someone who follows a different religion, who may have a different concept of our Heavenly Father than we do. This is especially the case with religions which have a firm set of dogma; their concept of what religion should be is so rigid there is little room in their belief system for differing faiths. Having a secular society heightens these differences because the various faiths are isolated somewhat from society in general. There is also irritation because there will be members of society professing to follow a certain faith and they will lash out at different faiths in an unconscious defense of their own weak faith. Secularism exacerbates religious tensions.
There will also be conflicts between various economic groups. Since a secular society does not recognize the worth of each individual, efforts to minimize economic disparity will be largely ineffective. This is especially the case when the ultra-rich seek to increase their power and wealth at the expense of the rest of humanity, especially the poor. As a result of this, the poor become marginalized and disenfranchised, thereby becoming susceptible to radicalization by terrorist groups, thus adding more fuel to the economic conflict.
The absence of brotherhood also makes political differences more troubling. Since political partisans generally do not have a strong belief in the immediacy of God in their lives, stretching the truth and telling outright lies becomes easier. It seems as if there is no respect for anyone who is the least bit different in any way. Each political group becomes isolated, separated from portions of society, and especially separated from other political groups. We are becoming isolated on many fronts: racial, religious, economic, and political; we are a society of isolated groups in spite of our social media opportunities.
An obvious region of conflicts is between nations; as long as there are sovereign nations there will be wars between these nations. Only global sovereignty can eliminate wars between nations;[2] chapter 6 has a further discussion on this topic. A secularist society does not realize the value of the individual, therefore when nations prepare for war they calculate the cost in terms of mortal lives, not on the basis of souls having the potential to become eternal beings who go to Paradise and actually meet our Heavenly Father who created all things and beings. As long as there are sovereign nations here will be wars between them.
In a secular society people are judged by some external characteristic, such as skin color, or religion rather than something of value, such as the character of the individual. A secular society is focused upon superficial and transient appearances rather than upon anything of truly lasting value.
The consequences to our society as it transforms from a secular society into one based upon true faith will not be pretty. These changes will rip our souls from our present tranquility and set us on a path toward a fuller appreciation of true reality but there may be troublous times in between.