By Roland Chia, For The Straits Times
IN RECENT years, there has been a spate of anti-religion literature authored by atheists who are either crusading for religion to be privatised or abolished.
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
Christianity's Forgotten Impact
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The titles of their books openly declare their basic agendas: The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins), God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Christopher Hitchens), The End Of Faith (Sam Harris) and Breaking The Spell (Daniel Dennett). These authors champion atheism and the ideology that it has spawned, namely, secularism.
They argue that religion is responsible for some of the worst atrocities in history and that society's future lies in a secularism that would keep religion out of the public square.
These authors often quote stark examples in history of the chaos and bloodshed for which religion was allegedly responsible. And one of their favourites is surely the Thirty-Year War (1618-1648), which involved the Holy Roman Empire and the Protestant states in Germany.
Mr Janadas Devan, in a recent article - Secularism - not from theory but bloody history - (ST, Nov 24), appeared to have joined the fray when he cited this conflict as an example of a religious war that caused millions to perish.
While religious motivations were certainly present, it is a mistake to think they were the only or even the main reason for the war. Most historians would argue that the Thirty-Year War came about mainly because the emerging nation states in Europe were jostling for territory and political power. Just as in the Thirty-Year War, many of the current so-called 'religious wars' are not fought over religion.
CLASH OF IDEAS
Secularism came about not so much because of the so-called bloody religious wars, but the bloodless clash of ideas: atheism, rationalism, scientism and relativism against revealed religion.
Mr Devan maintains that Hitler, Stalin and Mao, although 'prodigious monsters', did not come close in proportionate terms 'to inflicting on their societies the kind of destruction that warring Catholic and Protestants visited on theirs in 17th-century Europe'. While this statement may be true, it can also be misleading.
In their authoritative study, Mao: The Unknown Story, Jung Chang and Jon Halliday attribute a staggering 70 million deaths to Mao Zedong's regime. But it is pertinent to note that, unlike the Thirty-Year War, these mass killings were conducted during peacetime and against their own countrymen.
This is an important distinction that is often glossed over or missed. It weakens the argument that the Thirty-Year War was more murderous than the carnage perpetrated by atheist regimes. In fact, scholars have maintained that religion-inspired killings pale in comparison to the murders perpetrated by atheist regimes.
In Mr Devan's article, he argues that Western secularism came into being after a long and bloody conflict and thus should not be understood merely as a theory. According to him, the Thirty-Year War, which ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), 'gave rise to freedom of religion being enshrined as a human right'.
However, the genesis of secularism is somewhat more complex. While religious conflicts may have a part to play, secularism came about not so much because of the so-called bloody religious wars, but the bloodless clash of ideas: atheism, rationalism, scientism and relativism against revealed religion.
Many who champion secularism fail to give due recognition to the positive contributions of religion to society. In the same vein, while there is much talk about 'public reason', very little attention is given to religion's role in shaping it. Let me offer some examples of the contributions of Christianity - the religion I know best - not only to society, but also to some of the cherished ideals of modern secular society.
One of the most cherished virtues of modern secular society is surely respect for the rights of every human being. This view is given eloquent expression by the Declaration of Humans Rights in the charter of the United Nations.
While many today may think this is a self-evident truth, it is in fact not the case. Many cultures throughout history - and even today - have indeed rejected this view because, on the face of it, what is more self-evident is the inequality among humans.
The view that all humans are equal can be traced to a particular teaching of Christianity that maintains that all humans are bearers of the divine image and so must be accorded equal respect and value.
A related virtue championed by secular society is human freedom. But what is often not known or recognised is that individual freedom and rights flourished where Christianity has the most profound impact. Furthermore, it is Christianity's accent on the individual that resulted in the emphasis on freedom and liberty espoused by such important documents in Western civilisation as the Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights in England, the English Bill of Rights and the American Bill of Rights.
Also, against widespread misconception, it must be pointed out that freedom of religious beliefs is not the invention of the secular state, as Mr Devan suggested. It has always been part of the Christian understanding of human freedom. As the second-century Church Father Tertullian famously put it: 'It is the fundamental right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions...to which free will and not force should lead us.'
These words were written 1,400 years before Westphalia.
The powerful influence that secularism now has on education has obscured the profound contribution of Christianity to this important human enterprise. Unlike the Greek and Roman practice of teaching only boys from the privileged segment of society, the early Church offered education to individuals of all social classes and ethnic backgrounds.
The oldest universities in the West began life as Christian monasteries. And many well- known universities in the United States started as Christian schools. The Congregational Church established Harvard College in 1636 as a theological institution. Yale began life as a Congregational institution aiming to 'educate ministers in our own way'.
Readers familiar with the history of public education in Singapore would appreciate the invaluable contributions of the Christian Church.
I could go on to speak about Christianity's influence in science, medicine, technology, health care, music, art, architecture, democracy, civil society, jurisprudence and law. It is unfortunate that the influence of religion in society is mostly not recognised or acknowledged.
As Josiah Stamp put it so well: 'Christian ideals have permeated society until non-Christians, who claim to live a 'decent life' without religion, have forgotten the origin of the very content and context of their 'decency'.'
This suggests that secularism is, in some sense at least, parasitic to the very world view that it so vehemently rejects and abandons.
The writer is dean of postgraduate studies and lecturer in historical and systematic theology at Trinity Theological College.
Hi bro
Got to commend you for speaking up for Christ with so many opinions deafening the truth in the media.
Kudos =)
I am not an atheist but I do have to agree with the comments of the book on religion and the problems it has caused. Rix177 you made references comparing the 30 yr wars of Christianity to wicked leaders like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao in an attempt to prove that Christianity's crimes pale in comparison to them. What you fail to realize is that the death toll attributed to Religious wars is not over. Christianity still continues to claim the lives of people all over this world. Especially to people of color. Many of you think that religion is the way to God but fail to ask yourselves the most important question of all. If religion is so important, what religion does God Himself belong to? The one thing I can respect about other religions is whether right or wrong at least they are unified in their belief. With Christianity not only would you have to ask is God a Christian, but you would also have to ask, "What denomination does He belong to?" God is not the author of religion. Man is. God is the author of spirituality. Contrary to popular belief there is a difference between the two. Christianity is no different than any of the other world religions because they all got their information from the same source. That source is the Kemetic stones of Egypt. Or Hieroglyphs. I'm sure your professors would all disagree with me for the sake of their philosophy. But the amazing thing about the truth is it's ability to manifest itself physically for you to see. The same people who teach that Christianity is the above all end all are the same people who are responsible for committing genocide against 1st nations people of america. They are also responsible for the bloodshed of thousands in Iraq as well as here in the US. Now ask yourself this question. Does it make any sense at all to follow anyone who puts the words "In God we trust" on a dollar bill but slays his neighbor and lies to his people about why he did it? You do the math. It doesn't take a lot of brain power nor do you need a degree in order to learn how to use the one thing that God gave each and everyone of us. It's called common sense.
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