Keeping the Faith without Rubbishing Every other Faith

Now and again we are treated to political statements that are genuinely constructive, considered and thoughtful, socially invigorating, morally courageous and a true reflection of what we should expect of those who represent us.

Baroness Warsi will later this week address the Pope in an address that affirms the importance in Europe of religious traditions, heritage and beliefs as essentials of cultural stability and integrity. Her argument is that firmly held convictions and intentional dialogue towards mutual understanding are more important than any falsely justified or mistakenly fumbled attempts to repress or marginalise faith traditions and their legitimate public expression.

Given the nonsense of last week's judgement about the legality of prayers before local government sessions, and the strident intolerance of secular humanists and populist atheists, it's time we had outspoken advocacy of religious freedom and liberty of conscience, not to mention mere toleration. The irony is the intolerant attack on religion per se by those who appeal to religious intolerance as a fundamental reason, on the basis of reason, to outlaw or ridicule or damn all religion.

My own Christian life has been spent within a small radically evangelical community which, sometimes to its embarrassment is reminded that religious toleration is in its DNA. Yes, Baptists emerged from religious persecution with a passionate commitment to liberty of conscience before God and freedom of worship and religious expression as that which the state has no right to promote for its own ends, or suppress in the interests of its own power.  And since I graduated in Moral Philosophy and Principles of Religion, followed by a theological formation for ministry, I have held just as passionately to those early Baptist instincts about freedom of conscience, religious toleration and humble respect for those whose faith tradition is different from mine, but whose integrity and identity I am called in Christ to respect, and whose person I am called to love.

So dialogue between faiths is not for me a concession to compromise, but a commitment to communication and understanding rooted in theological realities such as imago dei, the communicative nature of God, the work of the Holy Spirit in human expereince and culture, and the call of Christ to love our neighbour as ourselves. Likewise, Ecumenical openness is not a sign of woolly thinking and fluffy goodwill, but a serious theological, ethical and pastoral challenge to recognise and respond in the Spirit of Christ to those whose experience of God in Christ, and whose living expression of their faith is different from mine, and if we are both honest and humble, is often richer than what I have known. And in a polarised world where hostility and suspicion are often the default dispositions of opposing religious traditions and cultures, I welcome every encouragement to people of faith, whatever faith, to begin by recognising the humanity of the other, and then to respect the religious commitments and traditions of the other, and then to respond in friendship and sincere interest in this other person, tradition, culture, with whom I share this planet, and this time in human history.

Is that too much to ask, of those who follow the one who is the Lamb slain, and before whose throne peoples of all tribes, nations, peoples and cultures will gather in the act of praise and worship? One of the missional essentials of today is a recovered sense of generosity that can only come from a faith tradition that stops being timid, protectionist and negative. Instead, with the courage of our convictions, and the exemplary generosity of God in Christ as our inspiration, and trusting the promised Counsellor who leads us into all truth, let us sit and think, and talk, and pray, and learn, and so come to understand, our neighbours, the strangers in our midst, and to greet and welcome others as God in Christ has welcomed us.

Some of what sparked these reflections can be read in the linked article below

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/stand-faith-says-peer-warsi-064447947.html

Comments

[helen]

So, as a Baptist, what do you think of 'compulsory' prayers before council business? And would your answer be different if they were 'compulsory' Muslim prayers?

[Jim Gordon]

I think the answer to the first question is in the post, Helen. Baptists don't do compulsory religion, but neither do we support actions which curb freedom of religious expression for others. A ruling that makes compulsory prayers illegal is one thing; a ruling that makes a traditional form of prayer illegal, even for those who wish to practice it is something else again.
The answer to the second question is just as self evident to me from a baptist perspective - some Baptist missionaries have defended the rights of Muslim people to have religious freedom and a place to worship unhindered. To my knowledge Muslim councillors are not compelled to attend acts of Christian worship - how could they? The action was brought by the Secular and Humanist Societies which betrays a level of intolerance similar to that which they decry in faith traditions.