Governments must be held to account by moral reason – not by religion’s weakening influence
THOUGH the discussion of the relation between Church and State, addressed during the Pope’s visit and still lingering on, rightly focused on the poor handling of the abuse scandal, reflection on the relation between the State and morality would have enriched the debate.
There is no escaping the fact that there has been a significant dilution of the social and cultural significance of religion in people’s lives, allied to a steady weakening of the political power of religious leaders.
Additionally, young people in particular have tended to seek sources of spiritual guidance beyond traditional religion. Their minds tend to focus on how we treat one another and on the essentially moral questions of freedom and justice.
There is an apparent irony in Christ’s suspicion of established religion.
His harshest words were for the officials in the religious sects he encountered as they put on shows of piety and holiness, obsessed with maintaining institutional integrity whilst indifferent to the harshness and cruelty of life experienced by so many.
The lasting impression Christ left on the lives of his followers was that of his deep concern for the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed. The essence of Christ’s mission was not to turn us into gods but into human beings with a deep concern for one another.
This is best characterised as a moral mission, expressed so well by Scottish socialist Keir Hardie in his description of the Labour movement as “an attempt to resuscitate the Christianity of Christ”.
There seems to be a systematic evasion of the fact that we cannot separate morality from the business of State.
The key purpose of government is to establish and sustain a way of life that befits us as humans. It is concerned with what we ought to be, not just with inflating what we are.
The business of the State is not self-justifying. It is answerable to the court of moral reasoning and not to any particular church or religious body. Philip O’Neill
Oxford, England