
An interesting piece appeared in the Church Times in early January. Apparently, for the first time since the 6th century (!), people in the UK who say that they have no religious faith outnumber those who declare themselves to be Christians. But the bigger surprise, particularly to those who condemn all forms of religion as superstition, is the fact that this decline has not resulted in the beginning of a new age of reason. On the contrary, to quote the Church Times, “the decline of mainstream, particularly Christian, religious affiliation in the West has made room for a proliferation of alternative and, arguably, irrational beliefs to fill the void”!
The explanation, according to the Revd Dr Nicholas Buxton, Director of St Antony’s Priory in Durham and author of the article, is quite simple. “Human beings are basically religious animals, just as we are also artistic, scientific, and political animals. We have spiritual needs, relating to meaning and value, just as we have material needs, relating to food and shelter. What we call our “religion” is the set of beliefs and practices which provides us with a meaning-giving narrative through which we view the world, and by which we order our lives in relation to the other people with whom we share that world”. “The choice”, he says, “is not… between rationalism and religion…because these are not mutually exclusive categories, but also because, if being “religious” is simply an inescapable feature of being human, then we cannot choose not to be.”
This is a compelling argument, but it is dependent on Dr Buxton’s initial tenet of faith, namely that all human beings are basically religious. Is this in fact so? From a Christian perspective, it is easy to go along with it: created by God we will inevitably demonstrate characteristics of our creator – kindness, tolerance, love, respect, responsibility. But not everybody appears to do so. The question is really whether those outside the Christian, or another, religious framework in fact demand that “meaning-giving narrative through which we view the world, and … order our lives” that Dr Buxton sees as a fundamental human need?
Dr Buxton concludes by offering a question by which we can judge belief systems by their fruits: “Do the beliefs I have about the world, and the actions to which those beliefs give rise, lead to human flourishing, and connect with something greater, namely God, or do they simply divinise the self instead?” That is the real test. But at a time when confessing Christians are lending their support to would-be dictators and dictatorial regimes, that threaten world peace and the rights of minorities and the less powerful, one wonders!
Read the full article in the Church Times, here.
Picture above: ‘It’s not easy to be an atheist’ by Eduardo Gruber, from his exhibition ‘Nadie Es Nada’ at CAC Malaga January 2024