The Remnant Faithful: A Case Study of Contemporary Apocalyptic Catholicism

Sociology of Religion, Summer, 2001 by Amy Luebbers

There are God incidences that occur in our lives all the time. People, secular people, say, 'Oh, those are just coincidences. Those are just random happenings.' You know, those things would just happen anyway.... We have a belief that they're not just random. That they are put there specifically by the Lord to show us his presence and the fact that he is there on a daily basis with us. Directing our lives, guiding our lives, being there involved with us .... I mean, since this commitment that I made to Him, every day things happen that are marvelous.

This individual's conversion, which he perceives was shaped largely by both the prayers of his Catholic wife and a devastating job loss, changed the entire perception of his life. His worldview became permeated by the perceived influence of God, as he came to see, understand, act, and respond to the world differently. It is this perspective that serves as a mechanism in maintaining an apocalyptic worldview.

Duality of Good and Evil

The End Times worldview is one permeated with dual forces of Good and Evil. "In exemplary dualist worldviews, contemporary sociopolitical or socioreligious forces are transmogrified into absolute contrast categories embodying moral, eschatological, and cosmic polarities upon which hinge the millennial destiny of humankind" (Anthony and Robbins 1997:265-266). This sociomoral construction permits, if not requires, believers to separate events from the context of the situation and objectify them as signs or evidence of God or Satan, as signs of approval or disapproval of a mystical external power. [13]

During the interview process I inquired about Good and Evil forces in the world. Participants related many examples of Evil, though few mentioned any Good they saw, and only if I specifically asked for it. The Good was found in such things as the courtesy of others and people being led back to the Church.

Responses to the question about forces of Good and Evil were a consistent and adamant "Yes," quickly followed by noting the self-evident nature of Evil in the world. ". . . Satan is very much at work in the world today, and I think all you have to do is read the newspaper and ninety percent of it is bad news, and I believe a lot of it is the influence of the Devil," and "I see it in TV, music, the whole culture, basically of money, greed, basically advertising. It's 'give me it now' and instant gratification and there's never, to me, any sense of this is good or bad. Everything is 'good', it seems." One stated, "The media has their own agenda. You can't trust all you hear or read. Hollywood plays to what they think will sell," while another posited that the media is "under the complete control of Satan."

In general, these believers distrust public information, though this distrust was discriminatory. For instance, one believer skeptical of the media was at the same time regularly visiting conspiracy websites and anti-UN propaganda, and all found Leary's conspiracy theories largely viable. Believers countered secular sources of information with religious ones, as one stated, "My source is prayer and Bible study."