Degeneration of Society

The Guardian of the Cause of God, Shogi Effendi had said:

"Indeed, the chief reason for the evils now rampant in society is the lack of spirituality. The materialistic civilization of our age has so much absorbed the energy and interest of mankind that people in general do no longer feel the necessity of raising themselves above the forces and condition of their daily material existence. There is not sufficient demand for things that we should call spiritual to differentiate them from the needs and requirements of our physical existence."

There are a number of conditions when he describes the process of disintegration in the world. Among them are: moral downfall, laxity and depravity of the permissive society, irresponsible attitude towards marriage and the consequent tide of divorce, weakening of family solidarity and progressive slackening of parental control, feverish pursuit after earthly vanities, riches and pleasures, lapse into luxurious indulgences, the degeneracy of art and music, the deterioration of the standard of literature and of the press, racial animosity and patriotic arrogance.

Media and technology as we know today, has made our lives easier, albeit enjoyment and communication. But if we look deeper into the condition of our society, we see more violence exploitation degradation of family solidarity, music,arts and many others.

The opposite effect effect is rather alarming. If we try to evaluate the mode of music, commercials and programs aired by the media today, there is a lack of language and images that instill us noble thoughts. The effect is so strong that the society accepts these foul language and images as a standard. Technology help us execute things more efficiently and quickly, giving us more time, but in reverse, we still try to add more hours to our laziness, vanities and things that obviously harmful to us and others. The purpose of media & technology is not at bad, but the effects,when not controlled, would be very dangerous.

People became more focused on getting ahead,competing with others,acquiring more and more of material things than focus on what is really needed when people are dying everyday from hunger, oppressions and many more and the thirst for power become more evident; misuse of our natural resources leads to environmental problems;the disregard of the Divinity of our nature is so widespread which is lowering the standards of moral behavior resulting in the misdirection in our sense of purpose.

Material progress is surely dominating our civilization, but this will not sustain us long enough to see a brighter future. This should be accompanies with our spiritual progress- for it is our natural part of existence.