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Religion Will Do the Very Best and Very Worst in 2009
In 2009, we should expect religion to do what is has always done -- inspire the very best and the very worst in human thought and practice, especially when it comes to politics and public policy. Faith is like a fire which can either safely cook our food and warm our homes, or burn them to the ground. It's not up to the fire, it's up to us. And it's no different with religion.
As to the degree of influence, according to this month's polling from Gallop, 67% of Americans see religion as a whole, losing influence on American life at the present time. I hope that they are wrong, but more importantly, so should the people who gave that answer. Why? Because the majority of those same people also stated that they believe religion "can answer all or most of today's problems".
Of course statistics, as an old professor of mine used to remark, are used like a drunk uses a lamppost, more for support than illumination. But that having been said, it leaves the faithful among us, especially those who believe faith can contribute positively to American public culture, with a very real question. We need to ask why religion, which most Americans believe can address life's big problems, is seen as losing influence.
The easy, self-congratulatory, and incorrect answer would be to blame some wicked cabal of secular elites who have it in for the faithful. The real answer probably has more to do with the gap that has opened up between the ethics, values, and wisdom within religion which most Americans still trust, and those religious institutions which people anticipate will have less influence in what may be emerging as a less ideologically driven culture.
Are they right? I don't know, but a culture in which people appreciate religion as a useful resource in addressing today's problems while imagining that the influence of religion as an institution is waning, strikes me as pretty healthy. It's an attitude which privileges people's needs over institutional power, which is always a good thing.
Ironically, if religious institutions could relate to their work in the same way as the folks who responded to Gallop's survey, they would actually increase their institutional influence. And that might be a trend for which to look in 2009.
By
Brad Hirschfield
|
December 31, 2008; 6:19 AM ET
| Category:
Interfaith Issues
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Next: In 2009 Religion Will Cause More Trouble and Be In More Trouble
Posted by: brucerealtor@gmail.com | January 3, 2009 7:14 AM
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Rabbi, I congratulate you on having the most interesting and thoughtful post, today. If I may summarize, it does religious people no good to have a smug sense of triumphalism, even when all hell seems to break loose, as in the current economic downturn. On the contrary, we should be examining where we have gone wrong in our efforts to engage the public arena for the better.
I believe one such area is this: we don't know our own faith systems very deeply. We need to integrate our knowledge of our religion with the best in science, history and culture. To use Jesus' analogy, the seed that was sown on the footpath was quickly eaten up by the birds of the air before it could take root.
Posted by: FrLarry | January 2, 2009 4:12 PM
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R. Hirschfield,
Interesting essay. I think the conflict isn't between secularism and religion, but between secularism and religionism. We are continually reminded that we live in a secular society, yet the gay marriage, anti-choice vs. choice, stem cell research debates, etc., suggest otherwise.
Posted by: Farnaz2 | January 1, 2009 7:11 PM
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Our Padre, Art, whose Crib be in Heaven
Shout out to His name
Their Empire came and went, as they did whatever the Hell they wanted to do
Give us this day, our daily Twinky
And forgive us of our debt just like Wallstreet Bankers
Lead us not to Lobbyists but deliver us from Pork Barrel spending
For u b da man, eva-n-eva
ahhmen
Posted by: truthhurts | January 1, 2009 12:45 PM
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Hi Brad,
Always interested in your posts. However, personally, religion as I know it more often seems to mediate towards better behavior than for worse. There are exceptions of course, but the vast majority Christians and Jews I know are very concerned with identifying the best course for our society and for themselves, and they use their religious upbringing to give them long term perspective on how to do that.
I think that when we loose track of the benefits of the millennia of wisdom encoded into the Bible and its vast commentaries we put ourselves at a great disadvantage for the future.
Posted by: themoderate | December 31, 2008 2:46 PM
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TIME TO TAKE THOSE CAPTURED 'SUICIDE BOMBERS' AND PUT THEM ON TV ++++ WITH MAJOR COVERAGE ++++ SAYING THEY'D BEEN 'TRICKED.'
BY ANALOGY TO VIETNAM, UNTIL THOSE IN POWER STARTED HAVING THEIR SONS & DAUGHTERS SERVE AS SUICIDE BOMBERS [IN VIETNAM, IT WAS THE DRAFT] THOSE IN POSITIONS OF POWER IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD WILL CONTINUE TO USE ++++ CHEAP LABOR ++++ I.E., SOMEONE ELSE'S SON OR DAUGHTER ++++ TO DO THE DIRTY WORK. AND THEY WILL SEEK OUT VICTIMS TO CARRY THEIR SUICIDE ATTACKS AMONGST THE INJURED.
DERANGED INDIVIDUALS, ESPECIALLY DUE TO DRUG OR ALCOHOL ABUSE, OR OTHER MAJOR LIFE TRAUMAS ALWAYS RESERVE SUICIDE AS THEIR 'LAST ESCAPE' FROM REALITY -- UNTIL THEY REALIZE THAT SUICIDE IS NO ESCAPE, OR THEY, ONCE AGAIN CHOOSE LIFE.
--------------------
GIVING UP ONE'S LIFE FOR ANOTHER IS PERHAPS NOBLE, BUT IT IS NOT AS NOBLE AS LEARNING HOW TO FORGIVE AND THEN MOVE ON.
FORGIVENESS IS THE GREATEST HUMAN ATTRIBUTE, FOR IN A WORLD OF PERFECT JUSTICE, OR PERFECT KARMA, DESTRUCTION IS THE RESULT.
PERHAPS THIS IS WHY THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE SAME GOD, HAVE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS NOT LIVED IN PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AS RADICAL FORMS OF ISLAM WERE EXPORTED TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, THEREIN CONFLICT HAS BEEN BREWED ANEW.