Trends of
membership in religious groups seem to be down pretty much all around the
world. Billions of people are living out their lives without any connection to
a religious group. If survey results in our country can be believed, many
people still practice religion in some form--the "spiritual but not
religious" folks. That label betrays an individualistic bias. You don't
have to be involved with other people to be "spiritual."
The question of
the future viability of religion has been around ever since the days of the
Enlightenment. "Secularization" is the label given by sociologists to
the idea that religion will eventually disappear.
I keep coming back
to the analogy with music. Recently I attended a performance of the Quincy
Symphony, which featured young artists--high school age musicians. The symphony
and its incredibly proficient young performers tell me that music is not likely
to die out.
True, 99% of the
people in Quincy were not present for that performance, but I'm sure a larger
percentage of the 99% watched the recent televised Grammy awards, which reward
musical excellence of a different kind.
Quality music
requires professionals--people skilled both in performance and in support for
performers. Without both performers and supporters, music languishes. As
societies grow wealthier and more peaceful, the number of professionals and
supporters grows. Music is not dying out.
Religious groups
need professionals and supporters. The Catholic Church has prided itself on the
quality of its leadership. It has prided itself too much. The sex abuse crisis
is just one aspect of the failure of its leadership to address issues. Even
more important is its failure to motivate people to become its leaders on the
local level (priests). Maybe the present structure of leadership will have to
dissolve into ashes before something new can arise. But something new will
arise.
One theory is that
religion appeals to people when everything else falls to pieces. I believe that
Dietrich Bonhoeffer labeled that the "religion of the gaps." Religion
can only flourish when people are hurting. Perhaps the world will face
disasters such as nuclear war or total environmental degradation, and then
people will turn back to religion.
But religion can
flourish without such dire conditions. With proper leadership, religious
activity of all kinds can enrich life just as much as music. Religion does not
need to control everything, nor does it need to convince everyone of a vision
held by a particular group. I believe my Catholic vision reflects reality, and
I look forward to dialog with other faiths in order to see what I can learn
about how others see God working in the world. The proportion of the world's
population that will be Catholic is God's problem. In the Gospel of Matthew (10:23),
Jesus is quoted as saying: "When they persecute you in one town, flee to
another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the
Son of Man comes." This suggests that the followers of Jesus will never
get universal coverage.
I want to share my
vision of God's kingdom because that vision is life-giving, just as musicians
want to share their vision about how music can enrich our lives. That is the
proper motive for "evangelization." Evangelization gets a bad name
when it turns into a tool for any kind of control.
We believe that
Jesus Christ was God become human. Jesus didn't take over the world and get
everyone to accept his vision of God's kingdom. Who are we to expect that we
can do that?
