Intolerance, scorn, and judgmental stereotyping are hard enough to behold in public discourse, but they’re especially painful when they come from my side of the spectrum – people who proclaim themselves to be open-minded and smart. Yet the contempt is there, and nowhere more so than at the mention of religion, as Madeleine L’Engle has already pointedly observed. Even so, the fact remains that we do find individuals for whom belief and wisdom are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, even mutually enhancing. Let me suggest Bill Moyers’ Genesis: A Living Conversation, a Doubleday book based on the PBS series, as a demonstration of intelligence and faith in joint action. (Also available in audio or video, if you prefer.)
Admittedly, much of what we see and hear from the religious front can be superficial thought, convoluted logic, or emotional manipulation – quite simply, bad theology that too often goes unchallenged. (Not that we don’t encounter these in advertising, politics, entertainment, or professional athletics.) Curiously, when I listen to the reasons given by many who turn away from religion altogether, I often hear equally shallow arguments. Those who accuse religion of being the cause of all war, for example, blithely ignore Karl Marx’ insistence that it’s economic injustice instead – even as they invoke his axiom of religion as the opiate of the people. Or the way Sigmund Freud’s atheism is touted, while ignoring the degree to which his two key disciples, Karl Jung and Otto Rank, each turned to unique aspects of religion to advance their depth of human insight. I’m of the camp that contends that good theology is the only cure for bad theology, and is essential for progressing social justice. Rabbi Michael Lerner’s The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right offers a fine line of reasoning in this direction. (As for advertising, politics, entertainment, professional athletics …?)
And, yes, the best reply to hypocrisy comes from the discipline of faith itself. Whatever happened to corrective rebuke and redirection, within the faithful group? (What old Quakers used to call “close labor.”)
Oh, my, and here I’d started out to reflect on the unfortunate state of religious fiction and poetry in our time, especially from Christian writers. With little support from my side of the spectrum, what appears is typically constrained by an orthodoxy that inhibits candor and rigorous exploration, and what emerges sounds saccharine, hollow, or even a false note altogether. That’s before we get to that matter of being preachy.
Still, I can point to the growing popularity of Rumi, a Sufi mystic of the 13th century, or to Zen-influenced Americans or Jewish novelists and a few obliquely Christian poets as signs of hope.
Care to add to the list?
Jnana's Red Barn 
Jnana – this comment may be way off-beam from that you had in mind when writing. But prayers of intercession (methodist) sprang to mind whilst reading your piece. Or why the Pope is the chosen chap (different brand) to intercede for millions. I have never understood why “interceding” was a necessary part of our relationship with the lord. Kinda undermines relationship. Don’t need an inteceder for my wife – unless she is not speaking to me again 🙂
No, it’s not way off-beam. Your image of a marriage is quite fitting in discussing our religious/spiritual experiences. Nothing should come between you and your spouse, especially when exploring ways to keep that connection fresh and lively..
At the same time, a marriage has a public aspect. Make that plural. And it helps to have others with whom we can discuss that relationship. (Simple case in point: Just realized I need to rethink my Christmas present to my wife, thanks to an insight from elder daughter.) Just think of those early times when you first heard of something (kinky?) and thought, “You can do THAT?”
Intercession is best when it also manifests as lovingly caring for another. Maybe like sending flowers?
Now, to stay open to the richness, best as we may.
Love it. I prefer the “sending flowers” description. It will be in my mind when I hear the intercession word. Sundays just got a whole heap more fun!
Couldn’t agree with you more, and yet think of Flannery O’Connor, Alice Munro, Walker Percy, Thomas Merton, Seamus Heany, list is endless, all great authors whose center was faith in God. In the lists of life and lit, God has the advantage always 😉
I’d like to add to the list works by Cynthia Bourgeault & Karen Armstrong. Also, Ken Wilbur’s Integral Spirituality really opened my heart to my need for deep spiritual connection in the face of an aversion to mythic religion. Deep intimacy & communion with the One is a powerful yearning in me & is reflected in my developing that intimacy with my husband, family, friends & all sentient beings. This is my daily practise.