Religion: More harm than good?

The accusations that religion is a bad thing has always been around in the collective subconscious – the Crusades, Northern Ireland, Colonialism and so on. In the aftermath of the July bombings, connected as they were with Muslim extremism, the accusation is no longer subconscious but very conscious.

The majority of Muslims may understandably choose to distance themselves from this small fanatical minority as Christians did from the Wako Sect. However, in popular culture the damage is done – one more ugly nail in the religious coffin. This does no favours for our mission and witness to the Good News of peace and reconciliation.

Religion runs deep and is therefore a powerful tool in persuading hearts and minds and especially hearts, as we saw in the USA presidential election.

We have to put our hand up and say, yes, religion has contributed to division, conflict and wars.  What else can we say?

1. Christianity is the antidote to religion

In the mindset of St Paul the distinctive and liberating feature of Christianity, is that psychologically, it is the opposite of religion. Paul was steeped in religion and became a passionate extremist killing people in pursuit of his religious ideals. The message of Jesus, which he famously encountered, was that no amount of religious fervour could gain him acceptance from God.  Only by receiving the grace of God through repentance and faith could he experience the freedom of peace with God, his neighbour and himself. For Paul religion came to stand for the vain attempt to reach God through human effort and Christianity for the free gift of God’s grace.  As the centuries have rolled on the temptation to turn Christianity back into a religion has forever been at our door.

‘God’s way of putting people right with himself has been revealed.  It has nothing to do with law . . . God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ – by the free gift of  God’s grace who sets them free’ Romans  3:21 & 24.

2. Religion is Seldom the Sole Cause

Seldom, if ever, has religion been the sole cause of military conflict.  More typically religion has been a badge of identity as we saw in the conflict of former Yugoslavia: Croatia predominantly Roman Catholic; Serbia, Orthodox and Bosnia mainly Muslim. Wars, whether historical or recent are actually, of course, the result of a whole range of factors – economic, political, tribal, and social, as well as religious.  Because religion acts as a convenient and emotive badge it is tempting to give it greater significance than the real facts warrant.

3. Religion does more good than harm

How often have people said to you ‘Religion does more harm than good’?

What is infrequently recognised is the countless people and organisations, motivated by religious faith, who do exceptional good in times of war. People such as in Northern Ireland going beyond tribal or national boundaries in the cause of reconciliation and acts of kindness.  These are religious stories of good news and because of that are seldom reported. Very occasionally the inspiring ideal of a religion can drive adherents to misguided extremes with destructive consequences. Much more commonly that same ideal inspires people to acts of self sacrificial compassion.

In past centuries the majority of religious people, let alone fanatical extremists, have at times agreed that it is legitimate to expand the knowledge of their faith through coercion and even military conquest. Today such thinking is regarded as totally out of court and a denial of everything religion stands for. But, in spite of that, history dies hard in the public imagination and in any case religion is a bogey word and easy to have a go at.

As brick bats continue to come our way let us help to put the record straighter when it comes to discussion about religion and celebrate being Christian and not religious.

It was Jonathan Swift who said caustically “we have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another”.

In response to God’s free gift of grace lavished upon us may we prove him emphatically wrong!

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