A rchive Date
[ 19-08-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/meedward.html
Surge of religious fervor
By MARIANNE MEED WARD -- Toronto Sun
August 17, 2003
There are several things that cross a religion writer's mind during an unexpected power outage: Is the end near? Are the survivalist religious cults right after all? How am I going to file my column? Since you're reading this, the last one was sorted out. But not so easy the other two. Sure, laugh if you must, but it's in times of uncertainty that religious extremism flourishes.
Ask anyone who had to walk home last Thursday whether they wondered if the outage was the work of terrorists. And ask them what that did to their sense of security.
And ask whether they wondered if they should consider a live-off-the-land philosophy (grow what you need, knit the rest and definitely own a generator). Fear of the unknown (what happened, when will it be fixed?) does that to people.
Survivalist cults
Enter the religious doomsayers and the survivalist cults. And other religious types like the Catholic bishop who tells the prime minister that he is risking his mortal soul on the issue of same-sex marriage. Different issues. Same one-note song, namely that "you're going straight to hell if you (fill in your sin of choice)."
Before we go any further, though, let's clear up one thing: Did the bishop have the right to make a religious statement on a matter of significant public interest? Of course. Church and state are only separated in the minds of people who practise neither. If you follow a religious philosophy, it will affect every part of your life, including your politics. And if you're a politician, the political style of compromise and negotiation will affect your religion.
The bottom line is, it's a free country. The bishop is free to speak his mind. Chretien is free to create legislation as he sees fit. The rest of us are free to agree or disagree. And I don't think anyone is going straight to hell for it, but we'll save that argument for another column.
I think what gets people's rosaries in a twist is that churches rarely are heard unless a) they're talking about sex, and b) they're threatening eternal damnation. That's a problem. And we media types bear much of the blame. We know it's not as jazzy to, for example, quote from a church discussion paper on homelessness as it is to talk about a priest who cancels a wedding because the bride works for Planned Parenthood. (Heartless! Judgmental! What about the invites!) Or a church group lobbying against same-sex marriage (Heartless! Judgmental! What about the hypocrisy of divorce-happy heterosexuals!) Or a bishop warning of eternal torment if the Liberals pass a particular bill (Heartless! Judgmental! What about some of the bills passed by Conservatives! Yeah, we can't remember back that far either.)
Churches talk all the time about social and political issues: Pollution, poverty, parenting, domestic violence, interest rates and taxation. I know. I get the documents. And a lot of them are thoughtful, nuanced, well-researched and complex.
I see that yawn.
I have a friend (Gerry, you know who you are) who sometimes says "s--t" when talking to devout Christians. When the predictable outrage occurs, he delivers the real message: "There are people without homes in this land of wealth, but me swearing gets you worked up!?!"
We all sometimes sweat the small stuff, because at least we understand what side we're on. Religious extremism thrives because, by definition, it oversimplifies everything: Sell all your possessions and wait for God on a mountain top. Sign over your cheque, move to a commune, live off the land. Vote against same-sex marriages. These are the marks of an eternally saved Christian.
Head for the hills
Simple, right? Yet meaningful Christianity (or faith of any kind) is rarely that simple. Don't I wish. What if a loved one is perpetually treating you abusively? What do Christ's commands to forgive require of you? It's so much easier just to pack your bags and head for the hills to be "faithful" to your God.
Any religion that makes one single belief or behaviour the litmus test of faith is extreme, in my books. Being faithful is far more complex than checking off a to-do list (vote against this bill, preach on that street corner, join this commune, follow that religious leader).
And religion isn't about living in fear. It's about living in hope: That the power of God will be there to light your way when you need it.
Marianne Meed Ward's "In Your Faith" column appears Sundays. Her e-mail is:meed.ward@sympatico.ca Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
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