Watching the atrocities of war and violence being
committed in the name of religion and against innocent men, women and children,
whether in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, Israel or the Ukraine, and the continuous street
violence in our cities and communities challenges each and every one of us in
our daily life. Has it ever been any different some people ask? Are we more
aware of these atrocities because of the instant reporting in the media and the
graphic images shown on television and in social media? Are we more enlightened
about human rights or still defined by brutality and the ongoing quest for
power over others?
Many are asking where is the moral compass that defines who we
are and our integrity in our relationships with one another across the globe? Beheadings and brutal attacks on individuals
are highlighted and condemned and so they should be, but are they any more
tragic than the killing of innocent women and children? Others ask where do we
find hope in this `modern world where ethnic and religious tensions appear to
be at the core of many of the atrocities, some claiming that their actions to
be the will of God. As President Obama recently said no just God would agree
with such sentiments or condemn innocent people across the globe as they go
about their daily busy life of caring
and supporting their families. A world in which 2 billion people across the
globe struggle to find sufficient food to place on the table, who live in
constant survival mode on less than $2 per day and whose future is uncertain if
not grim. A world in which political expediency, ideology, the abuse of power and
greed increasingly appear to be the order of the day and takes precedence over
vision and policies that will ensure the well-being and good ordering of
communities and societies. Where rhetoric replaces substance, opinions not
facts are considered more important, religious values are manipulated to suit
political or institutional objectives and the poor and the disenfranchised are
called to share more of the cost than the rich when things go wrong. A world
that seems to want to abolish or at least modify the difference between right
and wrong, who blame others for their own blindness of events of abuse and
destruction and where the eternal human values embodied in many religious
traditions, of compassion and justice have become marginalized or forgotten,
and in the eyes of some a denial of self and a relic of a past era.
At home leadership concentrates on winning the next
election. Where vision and compassion
are relegated to second place and with many of our corporations seeking ways to
avoid paying tax while demanding wage restraint and changes in tax rates. Prime Ministers have short memories and
accuse each other of lying and manipulate words to suit their own political
ends along side members of parliament smoking cigars at budget time and
drinking champagne, when signing agreements to incarcerate refuges and asylum
seekers.
This is the
same world that has the capacity to feed itself and to ensure no one goes
hungry and has housing, employment, healthcare and education. Good and evil
remain on a collision course and the difference between them on both sides
often clouded and obscure.
The atrocities that appear daily in our media have the
potential to desensitize us all and familiarity appears to lessen the
impact. Alongside this there is the added danger that
we retreat into the safe and allow others to solve or ignore the problem.
Many of the commentators and opinion writers claim
that religion is the sole cause of most of the atrocities at home or
abroad. They refer to the abuse of human
rights by religious groups while ignoring the same events in countries where
religion does not play a dominant or significant role. Nor do they acknowledge the role of religion
in freeing people from oppression, advocating for human rights, in the
provision of aid and addressing the plight of the oppressed.
Religion is not
alone the sole cause of the current or past atrocities, although religious
faith, like many other human endeavours that allows fundamentalists and
extremists to control the agenda, and go unchecked, have inflicted much
suffering and abuse throughout history. Likewise many political and corporate leaders
in Australia, who claim belief in the Christian God and the values of justice,
compassion, and mercy alongside the sharing of the world’s resources, enact
policies that discriminate and punish those most in need ignoring their plight.
The battle between good and evil is not confined to
people or nations with a religious agenda, nor is abuse in all its forms. It is
prevalent in a range of political ideologies that demonize the poor, the
unemployed, women, men and children, and all who do not dance in step with the
controlling political and corporate elite and their agenda. Difference, freedom to express an opinion,
religious or otherwise, is rejected and discouraged when narrow ideological or
political agendas are allowed to blossom without restraint, often due to apathy
or lack of interest on the part of the general populace.
Does Christian faith then provide a way forward and
hope? The answer to the question is a challenge. The answer in our present time
is both yes and no. It depends upon who you ask and their experience of the
church. Ask a gay person? Ask a woman who is denied the right to participate
fully in the life of the church? Ask those who see religion as a sledge hammer
or who have been denied baptism or not allowed to be remarried in the church.
Ask those who ask questions about faith and suggest alternative ways of
understanding scripture. In my own ministry the stories told of rejection and
those who are made to feel inadequate can be overwhelming. Yet this is not the
whole story. There are many who have been healed, encouraged and enriched in
their life’s journey. They are often the silent ones.
Where then is hope to be found? In the 19th
and first half of the 20th century we have been encouraged to place
our hope for the future in science and technology and to reject religion as a
relic of a past era. World hunger would
be solved. Disease and war eradicated. But this has not been the case. Both
World Wars and continuing international conflicts have put an end to this dream
and leave people across the globe uneasy and without clear directions. Instead
we are moving from one international crisis to another. Millions remain
homeless and on the move while others struggle to stay alive. Countries like
Australia appear to lack interest in addressing the issues of climate change or
world hunger and homelessness, by our lack of action and commitment and by
rationalizing truth on matters of life and death to fit ideology or lack of
understanding. This approach dismisses our shared humanity by concentrating on
self and ignoring the plight of others.
To be a Christian or a person of any faith for that
matter in todays’ context is not easy. Christian witness requires a deeper
conversation within the faith and in the wider community to tackle issues of
human rights, abuse, the growing disparity between the rich and powerful and
those without resources. A conversation that will without doubt be difficult,
challenging and confronting. For the person of faith our contradictions and
differences on issues will be exposed, and diverse views on important matters
from other perspectives highlighted. Too often our discussions with those who
differ with us is from the inside, while the outsider has a different perspective
that is often both challenging and can cause fear and doubt. True religion and Christian
faith will unite people in compassion, joy and meaning- a world view that
reflects belonging and relating to God, one another and to the planet with a
divine agenda of love and harmony. The Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed is
experienced in mutual love, economic sharing and social inclusion.
How do we then
as people of faith speak with integrity, transparency and in a prophetic way?
This is the prime question that all people of faith should ask at this
time. Jesus in his life and ministry
embodied the wisdom of God as the foundation stone of his life. He named the context of the day. He
challenged traditional religious teaching and the political leaders of the day.
He called for a commitment to a kingdom that puts others first. This is a good
starting point that may be the pathway for all of us who likewise follow Jesus.
It will without doubt raise profound and disturbing questions about our own
role in the global and national agendas of our time and challenge priorities
and principles that have been held sacred.
We need to vigilant recognizing the part we all play in building social
cohesion at the local, national and global level. There are some who will seek
to divert such an agenda by ideological commitments that divide and
discriminate. Debate must challenge this agenda and replace them with values
that define what it means to be human at the core of public discourse. Religion
has an important part to play in these conversations and actions but must not
be shackled by fanatics, fundamentalists and extremists. Their agenda is not
faith but a grab for power and their own self-interest. With rights go responsibilities and a
commitment to the building of the Common Good.
Ray Cleary
30th September 2014
