Religious faith in contemporary society

The idea that religious beliefs claim truth is an unpopular position in Western societies. Any religion can sometimes be out of step with whatever the current secular consensus about moral priorities is. The claims of any faith can seem threatening when many wish to be autonomous and not be told what to think. They want to decide on their own identity.

Religious faith, on the other hand, often appears to make dogmatic assumptions about truth that apply to all people whether they believe it or not. It allegedly takes us towards an authoritarianism that challenges individual liberty. It is tempting instead to see faith as part of the identity of a person instead of a stance taken about the nature of the world—perhaps then faith is just a characteristic of some people and not of others. However, that does not do justice to the fact that any use of the word, whether in a religious context or not, must always specify who or what we have faith in. This then involves reason because we have to know what we believe and be able to specify it. Faith without content is not faith at all if it lacks all focus.

Once we talk of what we have faith in, the question must always arise whether we are justified and whether our views might be true. Religion needs reason if it is to appeal to an objective truth, and the two are not intrinsically opposed to each other. The issue should always be what any faith is directed at. Reason may be powerless without faith to guide it, but faith is arbitrary without the support of reason, and unable to appeal to others who do not at present share it. That is the case in secular cases of faith and is all the more so with the central issues of religious faith. Reason without faith lacks motivation. Faith without reason is blind.

Faith may seem an individual matter, but there is also a corporate side to it, such as when we refer to ‘the Christian faith’, the ‘faith’ of another religion, or even ‘faith leaders’. The word can be about a transmitted body of belief as well as an individual’s stance to the world. A casual reference to ‘communities of faith’ can produce a view of different bodies of faith, each with their own standards of belief and practice, which cannot then be criticised from an external standpoint. This may seem very tolerant, but it is an approach that involves a departure from the idea of a rationality which we all share. It can encourage the establishment of self-contained sectors within modern society, resentful of outside interference or scrutiny, let alone the application of a general, non-sectarian, set of laws. It encourages the breakdown of a cohesive society, with a shared concern for what may be the common good.

Why though does any form of religious faith matter? The temptation is to leave people alone with their personal beliefs and practices, or to respect the views of communities to which we do not belong on the grounds that they are of no concern to the rest of us. Religious faith, though, is never just a matter of private belief and practice but is manifested in actions that resonate in wider society. Our life at every level is always influenced by our understanding of the world and the place of humans in it. That applies to all of us whether we accept or reject a religion. Attitudes to the world and understandings of its nature and the place of humans in it, produce the morality that guides different people to see what is important. Any religion typically makes claims about how we should behave, and religions such as Christianity and Islam preach forms of morality that they claim have universal applicability. Such claims to truth by different forms of religious faith are too significant to be cast out of the public square. If true, they deserve acceptance by everyone, and if false, their influence must at least be controlled. If we do not know which, they deserve serious debate and examination.

Faith can never be just a personal property or the mere badge of a particular community because of the nature of its claims about who we humans are and why we should matter to each other. It can appear a disruptive component in society because, when it talks of God, it refers to an authority beyond this world and superior to those who have political power. That is a threat to those who hunger for power in any society, and it is not surprising that religious faith is typically outlawed by totalitarian regimes. Even so, just because it deals with what people think is most important for them in their lives, any religious faith can be a powerful motivation, harnessed for good as well as evil. This then brings us back to the issue of the place of rationality in the guidance of faith. Religious faith will typically demand its place in the public square and its voice in deliberations about the common good. It should not be swept aside and ‘privatized’ but should be able to contribute to democratic debate. Faith must never be afraid of the full searchlight of reason if it believes it is proclaiming a truth that is applicable to everyone whether they recognise it or not.

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