Religion in Daily Life

© By the Rev. Edward Chinn, D.Min.

Rector, All Saints' Church

http://www.allsaintstorresdale.org

Stormy weather has shaken our religious institutions. In a New York Times article, Laurie Goodstein wrote about the storms that have shaken Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Judaism. The Catholic Church has had to face charges that priests have molested children. "The 19 Muslims who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and rural Pennsylvania on Sept. 11," wrote Goodstein, "set off the ideological equivalent of a house-to-house search for militants in Islamic schools, mosques and media." Jews have faced international condemnation for the military actions against the Palestinians. "In addition to attacks from outside, Jews are themselves at odds, with some condemning those who suggest that the Palestinians may have legitimate concerns or that Israel may be, in any way, in the wrong." Goodstein quotes religious historian Martin E. Marty, who wrote: "We're seeing now that religion is not an innocent force in the world, but it shares the same problems as the rest of the world."

Religion is not an abstraction, floating above Earth like a cloud. Religion is embodied in imperfect human beings who have inclinations toward good and toward evil. When a man wanted to worship the Apostle Peter, Peter said to him, "None of that-I'm a man and only a man, no different from you" (Acts 10:26, TM).

Think of the stormy weather that has blown through such institutions as the British monarchy, the American family, the professional athletes who are popular heroes, the FBI and the CIA. Jesus' parable about the houses and the storm (Matthew 7:24-27) can help us be more realistic about our human institutions. Take the Great Wall of China as an illustration. It was built by Chinese criminals 214 years before the birth of Jesus. The builders wanted to protect the vulnerable northern border from enemy raids. When finished, the Great Wall was 1,600 miles long, from three-to-four stories high, and it seemed impenetrable. Yet, the enemy got through it, not once, but three times. They did not break it down nor did they go around it. They penetrated the Great Wall by bribing the gatekeepers. The late New York preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote, "It was the human element that failed. What collapsed was character that proved insufficient to make the great structure men had fashioned really work."

Whether it is patriotism, or politics, or religion, these great institutions are embodied in fallible human beings. As Lord Acton said in 1887, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We have seen what happens to religion and nationalism and politics when they are wrapped in the mantle of power and pride.