One of the great things about social media (beyond just keeping up with friends and family) is being able to hear from a variety of voices on topics I find interesting (both professionally and personally). In the past week or so, two such posts have caught my eye and got me thinking a bit about how Americans in the early twenty-first century view religion.
The first came from a Twitter post of an academic who studies politics and economics. Essentially the poster said the following: since there are so many religions, maybe believers should ask themselves if there is any way that theirs can be the only true faith, or if all faiths are just "man-invented." The second was a story (you can read it here) in which it was reported that the former head of the National Council of Churches (Joan Brown Campbell), who said that it was time for American Christians to not be "exclusive" in the faith beliefs -- that is, that there really is no point in trying to win people to Christ.
Here then, are two extremes present in the religious discussion of America today. The first argues that faith is just a creation of man, and perhaps, should have no standing in our decision making process (ie in the world of politics). The second argues that there are no real differences between faiths, and so we should all just get along. While both are very different (one arguing that faith does not matter because it is all just made up, the other saying that faith does matter -- but it doesn't matter what faith you follow because they are all the same), they are also very much the same (well, because, religion is all the same).
I would assert that both positions have very little basis in either world or American History.
The notion that faith is just a man-made invention is an atheistic line of course, with a rationalistic/Enlightenment heritage that truly started to blossom in the late nineteenth century with higher criticism (in the West), the scientific study of religion, and the rise of Marxist thought (amongst other trends). Of course where this line of thought breaks down is the following. Under it, religion isn't "special" in the sense that it tells us something more about our spiritual nature nor offers any sort of divine revelation, and as such, it is merely an ideology (of sorts). But the flip side then comes in, though an ideology, religion isn't supposed to have any sort of pull on policy making. It should be shunted aside (presumably into a "private sphere", where if it has no role to play in the public discourse.
The notion that faith, no matter what creed or doctrine, is essentially all the same, is also more of a recent development. But regardless of when it first appeared, it is not religious toleration (though toleration may be a part of its message and even its appeal to some). This is stating that there is no "one way to Heaven", just multiple paths to the same end(s). In some ways, it is also a very Humanistic statement.
Neither would historically have been found amongst the majority of Americans, however. The first line, that religion is man-made and has no role in the public sphere was hardly what the colonists, Founders, evangelicals of the Second Great Awakening, or the reformers of the Social Gospel period (nor, for that matter of the Moral Majority/Religious Right....and one would assume the Religious Left of today) believed. Likewise, the idea that difference between faiths (or even denominations) don't matter is also suspect historically. Now, the differences between Christian denominations may not matter as much as say the differences between Christianity and Islam, but to dismiss all doctrinal differences as moot is to not take seriously doctrine to begin with. Indeed, I'd assert that many who hold this idea (that all faiths are equal) really know very little about the faiths they claim to be bringing together. While we can surely learn things from people of different backgrounds and faiths, and while faith should not be a reason for, say, violence, we can respectfully disagree about things, while agreeing on other things. We can, in other words, meet somewhere in the middle of these two extreme views.
At least, that's what I'm thinking about on this final Friday of my summer vacation!
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