Citizen Columns

Citizen Columns >> Answer (October 21st, 2006)

Question

How do you respond to people who say religion causes more harm than good?

Answer

Early Christians felt the same way, and were accused of being atheists for refusing to participate in the "normal" religion of Roman society. They joined with philosophers in their scathing critique of the fears, superstitions and violence spawned by much religious practice. And while they emerged from Judaism, Christians very soon opened the doors to everyone. They talked about a way of life - the earliest name for Christianity was "the Way" - and distanced themselves from religion, both Roman and Jewish.

The standard for this new way of life was the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. They took him as their model for loving others, including most astoundingly, loving their enemies, those who wished them ill. Whatever else they believed about Jesus, his example remained the high standard by which they judged whether their own behavior was good or harmful, healthy or unhealthy. Some certainly still do follow this standard in the most extreme way, as the Amish reaction to the murderer of their school-children recently demonstrated.

Of course there are plenty of terrible examples throughout history when Christians abandoned this demanding way and fell back into religious tribalism. As GK Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried." Even so, Christian individuals and churches remain at the forefront of efforts to create a more just, loving and peaceful society at all levels of life. And many of the values of our liberal western democracies have roots in the Christian outlook: tolerance, respect for human freedom and human rights, active pursuit of humanitarian efforts.

Father John Jillions