Who gave God redundancy?

Party conferences are guaranteed to provide headlines. They are the shop window of any political body. It is at such occasions that politicians often choose to promote their most popular and populist policies. Tax cuts are always a winner, and so it was hardly a surprise that the radical proposals unveiled at the recent PD conference attracted more than a little attention. Everyone likes good news and this was really good news. So good that in all the fuss something much more radical got in under the radar.

In her leader’s address to conference Mary Harney made the following statement: “This party remains rooted in the belief that social progress and economic success go together. They’re one and the same.”
Unless I missed it nobody seems to have batted an eyelid! There was a time when such a statement would have been immediately challenged from a variety of quarters, principally the churches who would have responded very negatively to the suggestion that the quality of any society could be determined by economic prosperity alone. Indeed many others who would be otherwise unsympathetic to the role of religion in society would equally question the ability of democracy & capitalism alone to create or maintain a society of shared values, traditions, institutions and interests. It is not often that I find myself looking to Papal encyclicals for guidance but I did come across this in the writings of the late Pope John Paul II. He observed in his encyclical: ‘Centesimus Annus’, “As history demonstrates, a democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.” ]Centesimus Annus – para 46] Value systems are not the preserve of religion alone but they are a very important dimension of most religious traditions and so it is all the more surprising that this statement caused not even a stir!

The churches were in fact creating a stir in recent weeks but it was about something else altogether. The ecumenical Mass in Drogheda where Fr Iggy O’Donovan and Rev’d Mike Graham concelebrated caused the official hierarchy in both traditions a certain amount of embarrassment as they tried to walk a tightrope between censuring the two disobedient clergy and acknowledging the hugely positive public reaction to this act of Christian generosity and reconciliation. Regrettably, both Archbishops seem to have fallen off the tightrope and having nursed their wounds walked firmly in the direction of censorship. The ongoing debate has filled hundreds of column inches and seems to have become increasingly focussed on the internal divisions within Christendom and the theological justification for these divisions. This is all very interesting but it only serves to make an already cynical society more cynical about the Church and it’s self obsessed behaviour, pushing it further out onto the margins of relevance.
Sadly the Church seems to have, in part at least, accepted this arrangement and spends more and more time on internal relationships and disputes and less and less on the meaningful and challenging encounter with society. That is perhaps why Mary Harney’s shallow definition of society went unchallenged?

Within our own tradition of Anglicanism we have spent the last four years tearing ourselves apart, apparently over the issue of human sexuality and the acceptability of homosexual people holding positions of leadership within the Church. This is of course an important issue with repercussions beyond the Church, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the debate is no longer about homosexuality but rather about who has the Truth and how best preserve it from corruption. In the midst of such a struggle it is very hard for the Church to say anything meaningful or helpful to the World. This sort of behaviour is repeated again and again as Christians of various traditions in a concern for purity and the Truth attempt to isolate themselves from any possibility of contamination. The current Presbyterian Moderator has refused in these last few weeks to attend an ecumenical service because of the presence of Roman Catholics at the service. Another nail in the coffin of dialogue between religion and society! Little wonder then that Mary Harney ignores the transcendent side of life when its chief protagonists do such a poor job of representing it!

Despite all the baggage that the Church has accumulated over the years there are still glimmers of hope! The Church is thankfully becoming aware that it is missing the point when it allows itself to get so distracted by internal division and debate. There is an increasingly vocal constituency within all Christian traditions crying out for the Church to rediscover its role in society. There is also a realisation that there is a hunger for the transcendent dimension of life and its associated values.

Having already quoted the Pope it might be instructive to see how the media of the Roman Catholic Church sees the current situation. A quick perusal of the Roman Catholic religious press in the last couple of weeks is very enlightening. The Irish Catholic (20th April) reports a survey in the UK where “an overwhelming majority of people in Britain believe that Christian values are good for their country and should be maintained.” While only a third of those surveyed believed in heaven and even less in the importance of the Bible, well over seventy percent said that Christian values remained valid and that Christianity should continue to be taught in schools! The same edition of the paper carries a report on a recent statement by Father Gerry O’Hanlon, head of the Jesuits in Ireland, where he identifies a growing realisation in modern society that we cannot get by without “a religious input”. We seem to have no answers he says for the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, gun crime, suicide, failures in the health service and road deaths. In all these issues he points to a lack of ‘vision’ and ‘soul’ which cannot be provided by pure secularism. Another Roman Catholic newspaper, the Universe (April 23rd) carries the results of a study in America that reveals that regular churchgoers live considerably longer than those without a spiritual discipline, sometimes as much as three years longer!

It seems that the Church does have a role to play after all and that there are still those prepared to listen to a Church which can rediscover its authentic voice and again communicate with integrity its message to the world.

It is all too easy to criticize politicians and it has become a national sport on this Island to scapegoat them for every failure and disappointment in our lives. Mary Harney’s sentiments reflect not so much the failure on her part to appreciate the deeper things of life but our part as Christian leaders to share the message with the World. Again looking to our brothers and sisters in Christ I have seldom heard it so well expressed as it was by Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick in a recent address entitled “What it is to be a Catholic now”. In these enlightened times we can happily acknowledge that his address could equally well have been entitled “What it is to be a Christian now”. Discussing this very issue of the Church’s relationship with society he says this:
“The complexity of modern life is both a challenge and an opportunity to recognise God’s presence. ……… No Christian before our time has been involved in multi-national companies, the Internet, the advances of technology, growing urbanisation, globalisation, multi-culturalism; none of these have existed in the same way before. The danger is that large sections of the lives even of believers remain untouched by the Gospel. In many cases individual Christians – still less groups of Christians – have not thought and prayed and talked about what the presence of Christ in these areas might mean. But if that is the case, does this not mean cooperating with the notion that God has only a limited place in our lives and that in large tracts of life God is not relevant? If that is so, there is no use complaining about how secular the world has become and how deaf to deeper values. If that is so, we are creating and maintaining a hidden culture which excludes God and also excludes our deeper selves.”

Bishop Murray has clearly identified the challenge – It is up to those of us who claim to be Christian to respond and restore the vital dialogue between faith and the whole of life.

You Ain't Jesus, Preacher!

This from Reallivepreacher
For those of us who just don't know when we've reached the limit of our abilities - Or perhaps to put it another way: It's ok to screw up!

The Persistence of Faith

This is the title of a book by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks which I have just finished reading/devouring. The subtitle is "Religion, Morality and Society in a Secular Age" and this is exactly what it is about.
In addressing subjects such as the state of the Family, Pluralism, Fundamentalism and the breakdown of Community it is exceptionally topical - all the more so when you consider it was written almost 20 years ago! This is one man who can really read the signs of the times - Get it now! - read it! It'll get you thinking. Buy from Amazon

The burden of being God!

I was filling my car with diesel the other day and while I was waiting in the queue to pay an elderly gentleman in front of me was giving considerable verbal abuse to the proprietor because the air compressor for pumping tyres was broken. To hear the abuse being given I would have assumed that this was a matter of life and death! He was a loyal customer he said who had given the garage much custom over the years and he declared that he would never be back if they could not even provide a decent basic service. With that he stormed out leaving a deathly silence behind him. Trying to lighten the mood I commented to the proprietor that the man had obviously got out of bed on the wrong side. She told me that it was nothing unusual – something that happens every day! People she said are getting more and more angry and impatient – and not just young people either. Talking to my wife who also works in the retail industry I hear similar stories of an increasing level of aggression and hostility that she and her staff face in dealing with the general public on a daily basis. Why is this? Why are we so angry? Why are so many people only one step away from boiling over?
I wonder is it partly the consequence of modern culture which has so emphasised the importance of the individual. Modern Gurus and New Age spiritualities tell us that we as individuals can do all things - that the world revolves around us - that the answer to all our problems lies within us. This is all very well when things are going well but what about when things start to fall apart? How do we cope when we are spiritually and physically exhausted and the World is still telling us that we only need to empower ourselves and all will be well? It is an impossible burden to bear - this myth that we are all powerful and that we don’t need anyone else. It is little wonder that we fail miserably. Unfortunately when we do fail we tend to hit out at those who are in our immediate vicinity because the additional burden of our failure is too much to bear and so we blame others.
The Christian message is very different – It is one which upholds humility as a virtue not a weakness. John the Baptist was a wonderful witness to Christ but he was not Christ. He knew his limitations and in that he found comfort. He could not bear the burden that Christ was going to have to bear. He knew that he was not worthy to even “untie the thong of [Christ’s] sandals”!
The prophet Isaiah in todays lesson from chapter 40 brings comfort in the knowledge that the Lord will “feed his flock like a shepherd” and “gather the lambs in his arms”. We are not God! – We are his children and we need God and we need each other. This is not a sign of weakness but rather of Grace. As we continue our Advent pilgrimage let us wait on God in the sure and certain hope that he will not let us down.

Celebrating Christmas in a pluralist Ireland

Printed in Nenagh Guardian - November 05


If one thing is as sure as Christmas it is the annual rehearsal of the tired old arguments between Church and Society around the appropriate celebration of this festival. Every year without fail some Bishop or senior church figure raises his head above the parapet and cries halt to the marching commercialism and secularism of Christmas. Also often critiqued is the ever lengthening lead in period to Christmas which undermines the season of waiting that is Advent.

Meanwhile, oblivious and unmoved, the Christmas industry ploughs on and from Halloween onwards anticipates with glee the annual jackpot that Christmas brings to those in the areas of the economy that benefit at the expense of the rest of us. When the Church says: “What about Advent?” the response is “What about it!” Already loosing its once firm grip on so many areas of society, now the Church it would seem has even lost Christmas!

To those sympathetic to the Church’s plight who look for solace there is always the comforting thought that it could be worse! In other parts of the world even more ground has been lost to the secular agenda. One only has to look to America where Christmas is increasingly referred to as ‘the Holidays’ and the dominant greeting to be found on cards is the uninspiring and unimaginative phrase: “Happy Holidays”. In Britain many local authorities have banned the depiction of any Christian symbolism in public places and so Christmas lights may not feature any religious symbolism or sentiment. Some local authorities in deference to multi-culturalism and as a demonstration of their political correctness have even attempted to rename the festival ‘Winterfest’.

There are many who will see all this as progress - proof of the increasing tolerance and maturity of society. In the current climate of cynicism regarding institutional religion it may even be seen as liberation but perhaps this is a little premature. There is no denying that Ireland has changed dramatically in the last few decades. Our economy is envied the world over. We have much to be proud of. Our transition to a modern cosmopolitan society has been meteoric in its pace and impact. One of the most tangeable results of this accelerated development is the increasingly multi-cultural society in which we find ourselves. Ireland, from being a country that people could not get out of quick enough, has become one of the most desirable destinations for peoples of various national, religious and ethnic identities. This fact alone demands a fresh appraisal of how we as a nation deal with Christmas and indeed all religious feasts and festivals. It is however by no means inevitable or desirable that such an appraisal will lead to the furtherance of the secular agenda. Marcus Borg a leading American theologian has observed that “the fact of religious pluralism creates an imperative to understand other religions and the people who practice them.” That is certainly the challenge for us in Ireland today – a nation no longer simply home to Christian believers, non-believers and the disaffected. Now we have a multi-ethnic/religious culture with a diversity of religious understanding and practice which brings fresh challenges and opportunities.

And how do we respond to this new reality? The political correctness lobby would have us censor everything that might make our new citizens feel uncomfortable. This may be in part the remnant of primitive angst following the western cultural imperialism of another age. Like most guilt induced behaviour it is neither helpful nor healthy. Another prominent force is that of secular fundamentalism that is itself a reaction to the destructive forces of religious fundamentalism which have blighted all religious traditions in recent times. Sadly this secular fundamentalism is every bit as soulless and barren as its religious equivalent. Peter Gomes, the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University has characterised this secular fundamentalism as “Paganism without the fun”.

The principal that we should suppress the particular (in this case Christianity) to defend the universal is fundamentally flawed and fruitless. The events of recent weeks in France have demonstrated the dangers of a politics which suppresses an honest multi-cultural encounter in favour of the complete privatization of religious and cultural identity. The result has been the ghettos of immigrant and disadvantaged communities which have been neglected by a series of governments to the extent that they are alienated from the society in which they find themselves! Is that the road we want to go down? In a recent column in the London Times, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, commenting on those same French riots, pointed out the need for any political state to be based on a “shared sense of history and destiny”. The mistake in France was, according to Sacks, that the State was established before society was built….a classic case of putting the cart before the horse. The suppression of identity may have ‘worked’ in the short term but now France is reaping the whirlwind and the suppression of these same diverse identities has turned them into distorted and violent forces.

Not only is this secular fundamentalism a very destructive force; it is also remarkably ill-informed. Out goes the baby Jesus and our traditional Christmas carols and in comes Santa Claus and such politically correct seasonal ditties as “Santa Claus is coming to town”. The fact that Santa Claus is derived from the Christian Saint Nicholas and that the afore mentioned song is a thinly disguised Christian Advent hymn just shows how bankrupt and dishonest this secular fundamentalism is. Just substitute Jesus Christ for Santa Claus throughout the song and it is as orthodox Christian a message as you will find!

None of this is to deny the reality that Ireland is not the same almost monochrome ‘Christian nation’ it once was. We live in a culture of many faiths and of non. Even before the recent waves of immigration, church attendances were in freefall. All traditional institutions with strong authoritarian structures such as the churches have lost adherents in a society which offers increasing freedoms and choices. Recent scandals may have contributed to this decline but they are not the whole picture. There is a danger however that these same scandals will fuel the fundamentalist secular agenda and lead to a reactionary suppression of religious identity and Catholicism in particular. In the light of recent events this prospect is worrying.

The fact remains that, even if we wish it were not so, Christianity is a huge and undeniable part of our story as a nation. Christmas, as one of the principal festivals of Christianity, is a significant part of that story. Despite the increasing cynicism of society about anything that smacks of mainstream religion there is something about the story of the helpless child in a manger whose strength is based in humility that appeals to people of all faiths and of non.

There are other stories too and we need to hear them as well. Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists will bring their stories and in time they too will become a part of our story. They will add to the colour and richness of our lives. The test of the truly multi-cultural and pluralist country is the ability to tell our story and to listen to other stories without the need for censorship or suppression of our various distinct identities. To the religious fundamentalist all this may sound like pure relativism; to the secular fundamentalist it is defeat but to those of us who still call ourselves Christian it is the only possible response to the message of Christmas – humility and truth. As we face into the Christmas season let those of us for whom it has special significance celebrate it unashamedly and without regard to the tyranny of those who would suppress the richness and diversity of humanity for the sake of a false and deceitful uniformity. It is only in an honest acknowledgement of this diversity that the freedom of all religious traditions can be ensured and protected and so bring peace and goodwill to all men and women.