Thinking Anew:ON A RECENT visit to the Vatican, British government minister Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, expressed fears about the marginalisation of religion throughout Britain, insisting that faith needs "a seat at the table in public life".
Writing about her visit she said, “For a number of years I have been saying that we need to have a better understanding of faith in our country. Why? Because I profoundly believe that faith has a vital and important role to play in modern society. But mistakenly faith has been neglected, undermined and yes, even attacked – by governments in recent years.”
She was speaking in the context of a debate currently taking place about the role of religion in society, following a recent English court judgment banning prayers at council meetings. Baroness Warsi’s point that faith needs “a seat at the table in public life” has some relevance here.
The contribution of religion and especially Christianity to life in these islands has been enormous. It has been fashionable in recent times to highlight the failures of churches – and with some justification – but it is by no means the whole story. Churches do enormous good, creating community and meeting social needs at all levels of society. Anyone who has lived in a rectory or presbytery knows about the unseen and unsung work done day and night. In the recent sea tragedy at Union Hall in Cork the involvement of clergy, Christian and Muslim, was greatly valued as they brought comfort and support to heartbroken families and a grieving community.
Outside formal church structures there are organisations and movements inspired by women and men of faith, representing what is best in humanity; organisations such as Barnardos caring for children; the Samaritans listening and understanding; the hospice movement and its unique care for very sick people. These and a multitude of other organisations like them may not be religious in any formal sense, but their roots lie deep in the faith of committed and inspired Christian men and women.
A key issue facing society is how to identify the values that bind it together for there is no such thing as a valueless society; indeed the two words are mutually exclusive.
Tomorrow’s Old Testament reading reminds us of the important role faith communities can play. The Ten Commandments which are part of the reading, are clearly understood to be God-given, but they are mostly about how people live and let live: You shall not kill or commit adultery or steal; you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet.
Codes of this kind are the bedrock of civilised society and religion has an important role passing them on from generation to generation. It would be a grave mistake to take them for granted for there is always the possibility of the rule of the mob demanding their style of justice. The Nazi treatment of the Jews and others is a stark reminder of how easily that can happen and with such deadly consequences.
But what we bring to the “table in public life” must make sense and have that extra dimension that is so often missing from some of the debates where the issue is not what values we can share but who will win in a vulgar power struggle with winners and losers.
John de Gruchy in his book Cry Justicesuggests a different approach: "A nation needs a common vision, a shared dream; a dream which is no one's nightmare because it promises hope and life in a new way to all. The message of the gospel is that all people, young and old, Jew and Gentile, black and white, rich and poor, are brought within the scope of God's action through the Spirit. All people may be transformed and so transcend the barriers of religion and class which divide nations and turn the dreams of some into the nightmares of others. This is the promise of the Gospel, a vision of righteousness and justice. Without such a shared vision the people will perish and all our dreams will become a nightmare."
– GORDON LINNEY