In case you didn't know, Secularism is growing in the United States. The Pew Forum estimates it at about 12%. This means it has grown from under 1% in the 1990s to about 12% today. This is very disconcerting.
While Catholicism continues to grow, it also has a
76% approval rating among Evangelicals. This is while Evangelicalism continues to shrink. Only
20% of evangelical leaders think Catholics need to be converted. This is much lower from the times of the Westminster Confession, which called the pope the "antichrist."
Secularism
Secularism is divorcing religious life from public life. Even Christians may, wrongly, be secularists. Former Presidential candidate John Kerry is a prime example of a professed Catholic who is "privately against abortion" but would not vote against it.
An atheist is a secularist, he just divorces religion from public life altogether. He just wants to divorce
other people's faith from public life, because he has no faith himself.
The Challenge
The Challenge is to convert secularists. How is this best accomplished? Certainly
science is foremost in secularists minds. From my experience, to be a Catholic apologist scientist, either a social scientist or physical scientist, often leaves secularists silent at our arguments. To be able to argue the scientific method and link it with examples from doctrines from the Catholic faith is invaluable.
I have converted a few atheists in my day, even though atheism is not my specialty. I continue to increase my knowledge of the physical sciences. However, a social scientist is not what an atheist expects. He expects a fundamentalist who hates science, not one who understands its methods. Knowledge of science is key to facing secularism down, and winning the culture to Christ.
The Sacraments and Prayer
Without the Sacraments and prayer, especially with the rosary, all our efforts are for naught. Grace must permeate our evangelical efforts. Prayer first, evangelism second is my axiom. Without the action of God, beseeched in prayer, there will be no evangelization.
Patience, Patience, Patience
Even for someone who has done evangelization for years, patience can be in short supply. It is important to limit your evangelization time. Every evangelist needs time for himself or herself. I limit my time to 2 hours a day, maximum. On some occassions I go on for 5 hours, but this is rare. We all need time for relaxation and play. Patience will grow, when self-care and self-nurture are part of our daily life.
Final Word
To overcome secularism, we need to start with first principles. God wants the salvation of all mankind (1 Tim 2:4). We must have a foundational trust in this. When we speak in a spirit of humility, good things follow. Even if the intended convert converts years later, we may plant that invincible and irreplaceable seed that was key their conversion.
