It is the year 2011. We are immersed in digital technology and provable, irrefutable science can provide answers like never before, yet religion still holds sway over vast swathes of the hearts and minds of mankind. It sometimes occurs to me, after reading news reports such as the below, that it seems as if we're going backwards: A Christian pastor is sentenced to death in Iran for converting from Islam
And so it goes. Granted, these stories have been cherrypicked for maximum impact, but they are hardly unfamiliar in the media. The left tends to demonise religion in general, often quite rightly for the despicable transgressions of human rights described above, whilst the right-wing tabloids tend to spread fear and conjecture about Islam as part of a wider narrative of barely-veiled racism. However, removed from the abstract dogma of the press, my personal experiences with people of faith has been quite different.
For instance, I live in Manchester, which has a sizeable Muslim population. I'm a regular visitor to Muslim restaurants and cafes, and contrary to prevalent conservative reportage, have never been the subject of a fatwa or viewed the spectacle of Union Jacks, poppies or kittens being set alight as wizened clerics ululate with glee.
Indeed, I have had Muslim, Christian and Hindu friends, colleagues and housemates at various points of my rudderless meander through life. These were, on the whole, decent, moderate people quietly living their own lives without hurting or forcing their beliefs on others. Most tried to give, forgive, inwardly improve and generally live a more virtuous, loving life. Is there a case to be made for the silent religious majority, whose religions are blasphemed and distorted by extremists and media alike to their own ends?
Indeed, should religion be something we welcome to a certain extent, as it offers a tangible code of ethics? Consider the recent UK riots – would these kids be more responsible as practicing Muslims or Christians, both of which faiths condemn looting, destruction and harm to others? Is there a moral vacuum that has arisen steadily in the UK, as many sections of the population become more secular? As a system of governance, religion offers rules and a system of accountability for one's actions, via Heaven and Hell for starters. What rules, beliefs or principles did the rioters conform to?
Ok, I'm starting to sound slightly sinister here, as if I'm advocating religion as an effective control mechanism for the unruly lower classes, but religion is not entirely without merit in a moral sense.
Despite this, it is my contention that separation of state and religion is essential to a civilised society. We have a history of church intrusion here in the UK - the shame of our forebears is to some extent obscured by the patina of ages, but something I read recently rendered the past in terrifying high definition. The book in question was Stuart Maconie's Adventures on the High Teas and a fine tome it is too, packed with the eminent broadcaster's avuncular warmth, humour and considered musings on Middle England.
It did, however, contain one of the more disturbing paragraphs I've read. Maconie described the execution of John Hooper, Protestant Bishop of Gloucester, sentenced to be burned alive for refusing to recant during the Catholic Reformation:
“Eventually, his tongue so swollen he could not even cry out any more, with the fat, water and blood dripping from his fingertips, he banged at his own chest with his arms till they dropped off. Forty-five minutes later, when his bowels fell out of the lower part of his body, he died 'as quietly as a child in his bed'.”
Maconie goes on to comment that all religions contain “a kernel of life-defying madness and intolerance that will, left its own devices, end up with blokes getting burned alive and young girls stoned to death.” This is food for thought, as being rigidly certain about spiritual matters is a dangerous thing indeed – witness 9/11 or indeed George “God told me to invade Iraq” Bush.
Granted, the latter comment was subsequently denied by the White House when they realised what a gaggle of slackjaws their boy had made them look, but in parts of the US Christianity permeates society in ways that would unsettle a European. Note the rise of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, who collectively bring to mind the character of Joseph from Wuthering Heights - 'He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours.'
Indeed, the Tea Party would force their hysterical smalltown dogma on the rest of the US (and by extension the world) if allowed near the legislative process. It does baffle me that these alleged Christians act in a typically conservative manner of self-interest, rather than addressing one of the more pressing messages from the Bible – namely helping the poor, downtrodden and marginalised in the US and elsewhere. One can only hope that the American people, having redeemed themselves worldwide with Obama's appointment after two terms of George Bush, will laugh any representative of these lunatics out of town.
I'm prepared to partially dismount from my British high-horse here and concede that UK law is grounded in Christianity, but it has evolved with society as we became increasingly secular, and dare I say it, enlightened. The roots of our faltering faith remain all around us, most strikingly via the Christian places of worship which still mark the skylines of Britain. And why not? Like Maconie and John Betjeman, I also enjoy a good church or cathedral, finding that ecclesiastical architecture has a warmth and grandeur that transcends its spiritual purpose and can be appreciated by secular aesthetes as well as the pious.
One could extend this to the central tenets of Christianity itself – forgiveness, charity, peace and helping the poor are obviously good things and their execution does not require belief in God, Adam and Eve or the Sermon on the Mount. We mustn't allow the self-serving to abuse and distort whatever religion they follow and force arbitrary madness on others. Just think of poor old John Hooper.
