They say that in polite company, you don’t talk about
politics or religion. Well, I’ve already
talked about politics in this blog site, so I guess it’s time to talk about
religion.
Let’s start by acknowledging that I consider myself a
religious man, a Protestant Christian in fact.
The fact that I don’t attend any church has more to do with my issues
with organized churches than any lack of religious conviction. I read quite a lot about religion, both its
chronological and spiritual history. I
read about religions other than Christianity; primarily Judaism and Islam, and
the relationship between the three. I also read what the skeptics say as well;
those who claim there is no God, or God is dead or, as Karl Marx said,
“Religion is the opiate of the masses.”
None of that has shaken my faith.
But you didn’t come here just to hear about me. The previous bit was for background.
So, let’s concentrate on the three great monotheistic
religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The interesting thing about the three is that they all hark
back to the same ancient Biblical person, Abraham. To some degree, all three were built one upon
the other, but Judaism is the most ancient and the first to espouse
monotheism. When Jesus arrived on the
scene, Judaism and the Jewish state were in turmoil. Internally, there was an ongoing struggle
between two factions: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Think of them as the political parties and
religious factions of the day, because they were both. He who ruled the Temple ruled the
population. In addition, there was the
cultural struggle between the Jewish culture and the growing influence of
Hellenism, the Greek culture. Throw on
top of that the fact that the Jewish homeland was ruled by the Romans. Jesus, I believe, saw his role as reforming
Judaism, not starting a new religion.
Christianity grew out of the teachings of Paul who was trying to export
the new teaching to the non-Jewish gentiles.
Similarly, Islam grew out of an attempt, largely successful, to
integrate a part of the Middle East that was still full of small monotheistic
and pantheistic groups, what we might refer to as cults.
The Jews, as with many communities in those days, were ruled
as a Theocracy. The church was the state
and the state was the church. Laws were only considered legitimate if they were
issued by or with the endorsement of the church. This might seem at odds with
my statement above that Rome ruled the Jewish homeland, but it is the
difference in ruling the land and ruling the people. Rome ruled the land. The Jewish leadership ruled on the day to day
activities of the Jewish people, wherever they may be. Hence, many different dos and don’ts were
captured in church (and hence state) law: dietary restrictions; dress codes;
laws controlling social interaction; and laws controlling interaction with
other peoples. This theocratic legal
system was passed on to early Christians in the Roman Empire because this was,
to some degree, what they were used to. Roman rule by this time was based on
the concept that the Emperor was a deity. The result was that a lot of things
have come down to us as “God’s will” that have nothing to do with religious
spiritualism. Pure religion is the quest for the spiritual not the temporal.
This is true to some degree or another for all three religions. It was this tension between the temporal and
the religious that prompted Jesus’ admonition to “give unto Caesar that which
is Caesars and give unto God that which is God’s”. It was the first statement of the separation
of church and state.
Religion has been blamed for a lot of things: abuse; wars;
terrorism; misogyny; even slavery, to name just a few. And yet nothing in the basic teachings of any
of these religions sanctions such things.
It is all caused by misunderstanding or purposeful misreading of these
teachings. Religion, or the perceived threat to “your” religion, is one of the
most powerful motivations to get ordinary people riled up enough to go to war,
or to carry out unspeakable acts. It is
not usually religion that causes these wars, it is the will of the powerful to
protect or enhance their power. Ethnicity, religion and loot are the three
great motivators for the people. But the
promise of loot can only go so far, for once people have it they no longer want
to fight, but now want to enjoy it. This
leaves the other two motivators which are quite often intermingled since
ethnicity and religion usually go together.
Religion does not usually get recognition for the good
things it accomplishes. Its teaching of
equality enhanced the idea of democracy.
Its teaching of community and compassion brought forth charity and help
for the less fortunate. Its teachings
about respect (a word I prefer to “love” as it is used in the Bible. In the lexicon of today, respect one another
is probably more meaningful than love one another) brought forth the ideas
about the worth of others, even enemies. Christianity, as it was first conceived,
was a very socialistic message. It is
therefore strange to hear so-called Christian right-wing conservatives try to
use the Bible to foster individual wealth and individuality. These were the very traits that Judaism and Christianity
preached against.
God, by whatever name, is often accused by individuals of
allowing heinous acts. Why would God allow
earthquakes or floods, pestilence or massacres?
How is God going to solve our problems?
But that is not God’s role. What
our religion, our spirituality, does is show us how to rise above these
tragedies; how to fix the problem ourselves; how to prevent the heinous acts of
others. Spirituality gives us the
strength to persevere, to act wisely and compassionately, and to overcome our
diversity.
So during this period when we traditionally celebrate
Christmas, Hanukkah and Eid, let’s try and remember what our religions really
mean. Let’s stop using them as excuses
for temporal acts and start using them for the inner strength and compassion
they were meant to achieve.
I hope that I have not shocked or upset anybody with this
post. It was not my purpose. I just wanted to get us thinking about what
religion really is or is meant to be during this season of religious
celebration.
