Something About Religion
I want to say something about religion. Actually, I want to quote something about religion. It’s by Michael Ward, an Oxford fellow and a professor at Houston Baptist University. I totally second what he says. Don’t bother to read my commentary afterward — just please read the quote, then take it to heart and see what happens there.
“Religion tends to get a bad rap these days — and from two directions. On the one hand, we hear people say that they’re spiritual not religious; they may be interested in Christianity, but not religiosity. ‘Religion’ here has come to mean ritualism, the externals of faith.
On the other hand, some people take “religion” to mean superstition, even fanaticism, as when Richard Dawkins says that ‘religion flies airplanes into buildings but science flies rockets to the moon.’ That is surely one of the most fatuous [‘silly, pointless’ — had to look it up — HB] things I’ve ever heard said by an Oxford professor. Why is it fatuous? Firstly, because religion and science — being abstract nouns, not people — don’t actually do anything, good or bad; they’re not agents. And secondly because, if we’re going to play that game of ascribing agency to abstract nouns, one might just as well say ‘religion gives us Mother Teresa but science gives us mustard gas.’ Much better simply to say there can be bad religion and good religion; bad religion done well; good religion done badly; mediocre religion done well or badly — just as is the case with science.”
(You’ll find the published text here, an adaptation from a convocation and groundbreaking ceremony for a new chapel at Hillsdale College: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/time...)
My bit:
I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as “the Mormon Church.” (The latter is a nickname for our faith based on a respected religious and civil leader and devout Christian named Mormon who appears in one of our sacred texts, The Book of Mormon.)
On a recent occasion, my husband and I were volunteering at the information centre for one of our special church structures, the Cardston Alberta Temple. A smiling Asian family, new Canadians from Hong Kong, came to see the building and ask questions. Love this!
In answer to, “What is this building?” I offered:
“This is a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a holy place considered ‘the house of the Lord’ by faithful church members. It’s different from our churches (pointing to the one across the street) that are meeting places for numerous events during the week from worship services to Scouts to wedding receptions to workshops. In temples, everything centres on worship and on making and keeping covenants with Jesus Christ, and on providing these blessings for our ancestors.”
Our guests smiled, nodding, and one conspiratorially whispered to me behind his hand, “And we thought this was a building of the Mormons!”
It was a slightly comical moment. I explained the nickname, invited the man and his family to enjoy the temple gardens and to feel free to take pictures. I’m not sure what he thought because I’m pretty sure he didn’t know what to think. I suspect he was experiencing some cognitive dissonance.
I hope he seeks out people of our faith to answer his questions. Google can be a minefield with regard to my religion — it seems to be a target of ridicule, disdain, malignment and gross misunderstanding. I get free speech, but I think there’s a serious dearth of free listening. If practised, detractors could then actually hear that I am very happy within the edifying scope of my religious activity and that, in fact, I see my faith in God as the #1 influence on the higher thoughts and feelings I enjoy as a human being. And, that it’s my choice. There’s just something about human nature that seems to set people on edge and against each other’s closely-held beliefs. Even among those who claim adherence to a “belief system,” it can become more cock-fight than soul work, mutual respect, or even the quest to spread goodness. Can someone please explain this to me?
I don’t have much else to say. What can be said? I believe my life will have to speak the effect of the decision I’ve made to faithfully align myself with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines and standards of the LDS faith. I do hope it’s an accurate, better-than-mediocre record of a follower who is trying to do her religion well.
The photo up top, by the way, is from a congregation of my fellow church members in Katy, Texas on Sept. 3, 2017. They gathered to worship, then to go out and rescue some homes and, therefore, some people from recent devastation caused by floods.
I also love this.
