An Ethical Musings’ reader wondered: “What is happening to
religion? Are we further apart in our beliefs or could we be merging?”
A quick global examination of religious belief reveals three
significant trends.
First, religion based upon a literal reading of a person’s
faith group’s scripture is increasing, especially in its Christian and Islamic expressions
as seen in the Global South. This observation distinguishes between Islamic
extremism (and by inference extremism in all of its other religious manifestations)
and historic forms of Islam, whether Sunni or Shiite. Islam, more than any
other major religion has taught a literal reading of the Koran.
Second and concurrently, belief in organized religion is
decreasing in the developed world. This trend is observable even in the United
States with its traditionally high levels of religious belief. For example, a
recent Pew
survey found that a majority of Americans believe in a higher power but
only a slim majority believe in the God described in the Bible.
Third, religious belief in China is increasing. One possible
explanation is that the increase represents a delayed reaction to religion’s
suppression during the era of harsher Communist rule that began with Mao. A
second possible explanation is that people are turning to religion as a vehicle
for protesting against the lack of democracy and individual freedom that matches
China’s economic development. These two explanations are not mutually
exclusive.
The net effect of the first two trends on the future of
religion is hard to determine. Predicting that belief in traditional expressions
of Christianity and Islam will diminish in the Global South as development progresses
is easy. Illustratively, educated people tend reasonably and quickly to discard
overly simple answers to questions that depend upon reading Christian scripture
as both a theological/spiritual text and a scientific text. Unfortunately, rejecting
that approach often leads to dismissing religion in toto as superstition of no
value.
Alternatively, even people living in the developed world, as
shown in the Pew survey previously cited, tend to believe in a higher power. The
title of Episcopal Bishop John Spong’s book, Christianity Must Change or Die,
thus points to one possible future for religion. The world’s major religions
may die because of their inability to adapt and thereby make way for a new (or
multiple new) religions to emerge. Of course, some religions may adapt; other
religions may die.
I optimistically see signs that religious belief is slowly
converging. If a higher power (God) exists, then reasonably only one such power
exists. Different names for God point to the same ultimate reality; different
religions are different paths for cultivating a closer relationship with that
power. The ethical teachings of the world’s major religions center around two
precepts: love for God (the higher power) and neighbor. This commonality
reinforces my belief in the singularity of religion rightly understood and the slow
but eventual convergence of religious belief.
However, in the short run I observe two sources of
divergence. First, some believers hold firmly to the distinctives of the
believer’s own faith tradition in a reaction against religious convergence, a
reaction similar to that by some people against economic and political
globalization. Second, religion has often been, and continues to be, a vehicle
for protesting injustice. This is particularly evident in the history of Islam
and is now evident in China. Broader moves toward more fully establishing
justice will gradually diminish the number of people who turn to religious
belief as a vehicle for political protest. In other words, neither of these
sources of divergence, regardless of their present potency, will derail the longer-term
convergence of religious belief in a form that embraces pluralism while
preserving the ethical emphasis on loving God and neighbor.