Christopher Moran writes in his capacity as Vice Chairman of The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ)
Originally published in the Church of England Newspaper 23 Sept 2011
The recent civic unrest exposed ugly tears in the fabric of society. The scale and ferocity of the rioting and looting across the Capital and other major cities shocked police, politicians & the public alike.
Many on the airwaves struggled to rationalise or explain the causes behind the violence. Mob mentality, opportunism, single parent families were identified amongst the ingredients in a potent cocktail of carnage. However in digesting the commentary of an increasingly secular media we failed to hear any discussion of the role faith plays in the social conditions that incubated the wanton destruction.
We all have faith in something. God created us in His image with an intrinsic need to seek life and meaning beyond ourselves. He meant us to find that external purpose in Him, but we all have fallen short of the ideal. Faith matters not just for individuals, but for communities and society at large.
As the Prime Minister noted during Pope Benedict’s recent visit, “Faith is part of the fabric of our country. It always has been and it always will be… faith is not a problem for legislators to solve but rather a vital part of our national conversation.”
For its part, The Council of Christians and Jews has been developing that conversation between communities of the faithful. As Britain’s oldest national inter-faith organisation, we have been working since 1942 to promote religious and cultural understanding between Christians and Jews, and to eliminate religious and racial prejudice. Such have been the changes in societal mores, however, I have become increasingly concerned that the decline of faith in God is unpicking many of the strands which bind our communities together and which bring depth and meaning to our being.
Faith, particularly the historic faiths of Christianity and Judaism, has helped shape almost every aspect of our national and private lives.The bidding in Leviticus to “love your neighbour as yourself” has helped spur an outflow of charitable endeavour from ‘the faithful’, founding countless schools, hospitals and orphanages – so much so that these functions are now viewed as intrinsic public goods which the state is duty bound to provide.
In more modern times, as the state has rolled forward, the good works of the faithful have found new outlets. Faith-based organisations, for example, have been to the fore of overseas aid and development, and churches remain at the core of many communities, providing services ranging from the traditional youth club and mothers & toddlers groups, to less obvious ‘services’ such as money advice, English language courses and social housing.
Such a benign state of affairs should not be taken for granted, nor should its origins in the ‘faith of our fathers’ which informed so much of our public ethics. This is not to say that only faith motivates concern for others or that Christianity and Judaism have some sort of monopoly on charity – clearly that is not the case at all.
With some notable exceptions amongst ethnic communities the chaos depicted an astonishing lack of social infrastructure. All over our urban centres we need local people who will be role models and guide young people desperately seeking leadership.
In the past faith has provided us with such people in every parish, temple & mosque. People who understood the community, its needs, its desires, and its weaknesses. We still have those missionaries embedded at the heart of our society and in our time of need we must turn to them again.
The faith of previous generations though had such vitality and vigour that it became the idealised standard of public life. As generation passes onto generation, however, that forming impetus loses its influence. It becomes less of the norm to put others before yourself and the reasons why we should help those unable to help themselves become less clear cut and obvious.
While faith may appear on the surface to be an ephemeral abstract, it is in fact the solid theoretical foundation upon which practical action is built. The imagery of building upon a rock was a common theme running throughout scripture. If the theory is allowed to rot, the actions which flowed from it will similarly start to decay – not in the present, but at some future stage. Hollowing out the foundation of faith means the framework of society will inevitably start to fissure and fracture.
Those who decry faith are keen to point out the misery which extremes of faith have inflicted, wars of religion, sectarian squabbling and, to bring it down to the personal, shallow self-righteous piety.
I take a contrary opinion. Society without faith has the potential to drift towards an introspective, self absorbed culture. Faith applies a brake to our natural instinct to be selfish, suspicious and intolerant.
For instance, a recent survey of 1,500 13-15 year old girls found that those who said they were practising Christians were more respectful of other religions. One finding was that 93% of Christians agreed that ‘we must respect all religions’, compared to just under 75% of those girls who claimed no faith.
It is also clear that religion has often been offered up as the scapegoat to explain away man’s inhumanity to man, when the truth behind most conflicts is a complex concoction of tribalism, jingoism, economic factors and just plain old fashioned greed. As someone once said to me, “never confuse the faith with the supposedly faithful”.
In surveying the damage Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of the need to mend a broken society. He is right. We must begin now to identify how to heal those social bonds, how to tackle the sense of alienation amongst communities.
Visiting victims of the rioting His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales picked up on this theme, committing the Prince’s Trust to doubling their efforts in those areas worst affected by the violence. Media commentators mused over the juxtaposition of a man of privilege amongst some of Britain’s most deprived communities; however the Prince’s emotional resonance for those in need should not surprise us. In public life Prince Charles is recognised not only for a deep sense of personal faith but also his efforts to promote understanding amongst believers.
Faith matters, it always has and it always will. Like everything though it has to be nurtured and valued. More so than anything else, because faith prepares us – not just for the life beyond, but for the here and now.
In these financially strained times we have limited worldly resource to tackle the problems we face. Therefore we should give thanks that faith places no such constraints upon us, and should we rely upon it, our cup will indeed runneth over.
Read original article published in the Church of England Newspaper: https://www.churchnewspaper.com/19658/archives
