Dangers of Disparaging Religion

This is an interesting article found in the Irish Times this week. The Teoiseach ('Tee shuk) is Ireland's prime minister, Bertie Ahern. It's rather surprising to find this kind of discourse in the public forum these days.

Dangers of Disparaging Religion

Mon, Mar 05, 2007

Probably the most interesting speech by a politician for years was delivered last week by the Taoiseach when he warned of the dangers of "aggressive secularism", writes John Waters

Speaking in Dublin Castle at the opening of a "structured dialogue with churches, faith communities and non-confessional bodies", Mr Ahern touched on the most dangerous trend in modern societies: the tendency of public discourse to sideline or disparage religion as something outmoded or dangerous. "So much of what is happening within our society and in the wider world is bound up with questions of religion, religious identity and religious belief," he said, "that governments which refuse or fail to engage with religious communities and religious identities risk failing in their fundamental duties to their citizens." This, considering the secularised nature of the discourse into which the Taoiseach was seeking to advance his analysis, was radical stuff. Usually when we hear talk in the public square about a "right" to religious belief, it is in the context of the need for public "tolerance" of faith and religious practice.

The implication is seldom far from the surface of such platitudes that, of course, whereas those who engage in such superstitions are to be "tolerated", they are also to be regarded as engaging in a near-obsolescent and unmodern activity. Our society seems merely to put up with people who believe in God because such "tolerance" is part of our liberal ideology .

It is some time since I heard a public figure identify precisely why this is such a dangerous trend. We are suffering at present, the Taoiseach said, from "a form of aggressive secularism which would have the State and State institutions ignore the importance of the religious dimension. They argue that the State and public policy should become intolerant of religious belief and preference, and confine it, at best, to the purely private and personal, without rights or a role within the pubic domain. Such illiberal voices would diminish our democracy. They would deny a crucial dimension of the dignity of every person and their rights to live out their spiritual code within a framework of lawful practice which is respectful of the dignity and rights of all citizens. It would be a betrayal of the best traditions of Irish republicanism to create such an environment."

Mr Ahern here expressed something that no politician or public figure has articulated for a generation, and few clergymen have managed to say so well. Usually when the subject of religion is broached in public it is either by way of pious invocation or derisory dismissal.

Catholic bishops, for example, frequently speak about the importance of religious faith, but they tend, in doing so, to suggest that faith and religion should be embraced as a kind of duty, perhaps even a duty to them and their church, or, in the personal context, a guarantor of goodness. The Taoiseach was saying something altogether more interesting and profound: that human beings have a deep need for what religion offers, and that the right to practice is therefore a fundamental human entitlement. Although the current fashionability of atheism, agnosticism and secularism tends to convey that religion is merely a hangover from outmoded tradition, there is considerable evidence that it is, in fact, a natural and essential element of the human psyche.

The mood of the present tends to dismiss what our forebears took for granted: that we are born with a longing for what is "beyond", and that this longing is as real in us as the sexual instinct or the sense of smell.

Disparaged it may be, but tradition knew something about us that we seek to deny: there is a religious dimension inherent in the human being, faith comes from within, and without these we are less than human. This surely tells us that the importance of religion goes far beyond issues of morality and identity, extending also to hope, meaning and freedom.

The world on its own does not offer sufficient hope to carry the average human being through an average life. The baubles of the marketplace do not for long serve to quiet the longing in the human heart. And the promise of earthly freedom fails to address the issue of how we are to free ourselves from our instincts, our weaknesses, our egos and our selfishness.

As we observe our society plunging into the secular paradise promised by the liberal ideologues who triumphed over the custodians of tradition, we observe also the manifestation of the many baneful symptoms of this shift. Alcohol, drugs, rampant consumerism, sex crimes and countless related phenomena tell us that there is something in the human being that is voided by secular, material society.

Increasingly, our society manifests an erosion of hope, a misdefinition of freedom and a collapse of meaning, and all of these phenomena are directly related to the disappearance from our culture of what we know of as religion.

This is not simply because the Catholic Church has lost the authority to tell us what to do, but because, in the absence of a religious consciousness, there is, ultimately, no hope, no meaning and no freedom.

© 2007 The Irish Times

Comfort Foods

I've been convalescing at home the last couple of days with an upper respiratory infection. I'm fine and that's not what I want to talk about.

I've been reading a bit, sleeping a lot. But in between, in my boredom I've been watching a lot of cooking shows. Yeah, whatever.

But here's the thing. Some of the gourmet chefs who host these shows often talk about "comfort foods". Now for me that means fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable or tomato soup, mac and cheese, peanut butter and crackers... Right?

So here's Paula Deen cooking her "comfort food" -- chicken chowder with hot poblano chili peppers.

And then there's Rachel Ray cooking pasta with sardines sauteed in olive oil and making mashed sweet potatoes with mint and rum and telling us that these are her "comfort foods".

Maybe my upbringing was more boring than I thought.

The blessing of the grind

No, this isn't about Starbucks...

We all have this daily grind in which we find ourselves. It differs from person to person, family to family. Our grind -- Beth's and mine, that is -- is not what most people experience. It's not even really a "daily" thing for us. But it is a grind nonetheless.

Now "grind" usually evokes something negative. Once again, that's not really the case with us. Our grind can be a challenge, and usually is; but challenges can be beneficial, right?

So what is this grind and where is the blessing? Our grind is fundraising.

The blessing comes in the realization that as we labor away at fundraising, what we are really doing is giving others the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Ireland in a very practical way. Those who are our financial partners often express how blessed they are to share in the joy and excitement of our ministry.

One of our very faithful supporters enumerated for us how she has been blessed by being a ministry partner with us. She writes:

"1. 'Where God guides, He provides,' and I have always found that when I give as He leads, He is faithful to meet every need that I have.
2. God answers prayer and it builds my personal faith to hear how He answers my prayers regarding the ministries I support.
3. It is exciting to play a part in a ministry that leads others to Christ and deepens their relationship with Him. When I give to ministries that do that, I am fulfilling the Great Commission and spreading the Gospel in places I cannot go personally.
4. It blesses me to know God is using me to bless others through your ministry.
5. When I give as God leads, I am saying "thank you" to Him in a tangible way for all He does for me.
6. All my resources are from Him and I have a responsibility to be a good steward of all He gives me. I want to glorify Him through my giving and I think I do that when I support your ministry.
7. When I give to your ministry, I feel that I am an encourager for you and Beth and when my financial gift is added to that of others, we enable you both to use your God-given talents and abilities to do God's work and bring honor to Him."

I would like to publically thank all those who are a part of our ministry team, through financial and prayer support.

Hmmm -- that felt like an acceptance speech at an awards show. But in a way, Beth and I are receiving a reward everyday greater than we ever would have imagined -- the joy of knowing, without question, that we are doing what God has called us to do. Sounds corny, but it's the truth.

We are still plugging away at this and hope that we can reach our monthly goal soon. Maybe you like reading about what we're doing in our ministry and get excited when you find out how God is using us in the churches across Ireland.

If that's the case, maybe God would have you be a part of it. If so, let us know. Email us or leave a comment on this post with your email (it won't be published) and we can guide you through the very painless process and answer any questions or concerns you may have.

And so we grind on...

Serving in Europe

As I mentioned in a previous post, our church, Coast Community Church, will be taking a team of individuals over to Dublin to work on the Trinity Church renovation.

What I failed to mention is that GEM's EuroTeam is going to be taking care of all the logistics and overseeing the work while we are there. Here is a quick video recently produced for EuroTeam.

Sorry, I was unable to embed it, so you need to go to YouTube to see it.

Click Here

Death and Dying

I have a long-time friend who is dying of cancer. He was first diagnosed in August with a brain tumor -- one of the most aggressive and deadly types there are -- and has now lost his sight and isn't responding too much to those around him. It has been such a long, hard road for his wife and their young daughter, as well as his parents, siblings and close friends.

I, along with probably everyone throughout history, have to ask why.

Why must people suffer so? Why can't death for God's children always happen quickly, painlessly, gracefully, and with dignity?

I don't really have any wise words in answer to this. Even David, in his psalms would wonder about this.

But here is what we have to realize. This life is not all there is. This life is, in fact, a very insignificant period of time. Not that what happens within the scope of our mortal years is insignificant -- don't misunderstand me. Indeed, our eternal fate is determined while we walk this earth.

Instead, when we consider eternity, this life is a drop-in-the-bucket, to borrow a cliché. When a person is four years old, a one year period is one fourth of his whole experience. But for me, looking back some forty years to that age, it is nothing.

But that little diversion does nothing to ease the pain we experience while bearing the mortal coil. To say "time heals all wounds" does nothing to make the present any more bearable.

No, more importantly, we should hold our secular experiences up to the light of the experience of eternity. By that I mean what our eternity holds for us. When we consider the joy, peace, comfort and love that will encompass our lives eternal once we shed the cares of this world and discover the end result of God's grace towards us, the earthly experience pales.

Not only is heaven beyond anything we could ever imagine, we are told this about our time there:

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev 21:4 NIV)

Paul puts it this way:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:10-14 NIV)

And then:

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom 8:18 NIV)


Maybe this offers little comfort for the present. At best perhaps I can only wish for it to give perspective and therefore hope.

Through the process of our friend's illness, I have witnessed another serendipitous aspect. It seems that his wife is experiencing the grace of God in a very real way. It is so apparent in her undying faith she expresses even in the toughest of times.

A number of years ago, another friend of ours, as she lay on her death bed said this, "I thank God for this cancer. I'm not sure I would have come to know Jesus otherwise. Even though I'm dying, it was worth it."

I had the privilege of conducting the funeral for a man who came to a saving knowledge of Jesus during his last stay in the hospital. Laying there in pain, unable to do anything, he told his wife, "These last few days have been the best days of my life. Why didn't I come to Jesus before now?"

God's grace is sufficient -- in all and through all.

Hope will not disappoint.