Paragraphs on Religion

I wanted to share a few excerpts from The Economist’s thought-provoking, 9 article special report on the current state of world religion.

Philip Jenkins, one of America’s best scholars of religion, claims that when historians look back at this century, they will probably see religion as “the prime animating and destructive force in human affairs, guiding attitudes to political liberty and obligation, concepts of nationhood and, of course, conflicts and wars.” If the first seven years are anything to go by, Mr Jenkins may well turn out to be right.

…But why has religion’s power seemed to keep on increasing? The first reason is a series of reactions and counter-reactions. Fundamentalist Islam, for instance, has helped spur radical Judaism and Hinduism, which in turn have reinforced the mullahs’ fervour. Hamas owes much to Israel’s settlers. Without Falwell, Messrs Hitchens and Dawkins would have smaller royalties.

Second, the latest form of modernity—globalisation—has propelled religion forward. For traditionalists, faith has acted as a barrier against change. For prosperous suburbanites, faith has become something of a lifestyle coach. It is no accident that America’s bestselling religious book is called “The Purpose Driven Life”.

Most of the time I think of a person’s beliefs to be a very individual and personal affair, but the truth is that major religious faiths are like massive organisms, constantly growing, evolving, competing and clashing with each other in the social and political arenas of the modern world.

Movies like “Crash” nudge me to believe that despite the extreme polarity of cultural differences, all humans can relate to each other at some fundamental level. If you use the individuals in the movie to represent collective cultures, like Muslims and Evangelicals, and the events in the movie like the car accident, which bring them violently and fortuitously together, to represent globalization, you could conclude that despite the damage and pain of the crash, maybe there’s hope that people could forget about their respective sides of the “culture wars” and lend one another a human hand towards some kind of transcendent peace.

But then I think about how immutable religious-based conflicts have been from both ancient and modern history and I am, in frustration, led to believe that this is how it will always be: the religions of the world as armies of ants, with each colony perched atop their ant-hill and proclaiming their God to be mightiest. I am not discounting the strides toward peace that religious people have made in the name of their God, but I’d argue that these strides are more than set back by the acts of violence done in the name of that same God.

Anyway, the bottom line is that although it’s much more comfortable for me to keep my views on religion internal, it is almost certain in this day and age that, much to my dismay, the religious views of others will always have an impact on my life as well as the prospects for peace in this century. It’s for that reason that this special report is so relevant and important. I’d highly encourage anyone to read the whole thing.