Faith
in the New Century
Slightly
Revised Text of a Talk by David
Kilgour to
The
Canadian Bible Society at the
Pleasantview
Community Church
Camrose,
Alberta
April
14, 2002
“Faith
in the New Century” is a challenging
topic.
For example, one estimate
of the number of believers of
all religions who died prematurely
while standing up for faith
in the century we just left
is a dismaying 169 million persons
worldwide, including:
- 70 million
Muslims,
- 35 million
Christians,
- 11 million
Hindus,
- 9 million
Jews,
- 4 million
Buddhists,
- 2 million
Sikhs,
- 1 million
Baha’is,
- 5 million
other faiths,
The
twentieth century was the most
violent ever in terms of religious
persecution.
To take but one of numerous
examples, how many Muslims died
in recent years in parts of
Europe?
An estimated 18 million
Eastern Orthodox and Catholic
believers died between 1917
and 1980, mostly in the Soviet
Union’s prison camps.
Many
Christians—perhaps some of you—participated
in a large rally at Edmonton
city hall a number of years
ago about the outrageous persecution
of Muslims in Bosnia by self-described
Christians.
There are many stories
of brave men and women helping
people of differing faiths around
the world.
One which is timely today
is about the Israeli doctor
who donated his services to
help Palestinian mothers give
birth safely.
Is the parable of the
Good Samaritan in the Bible
not in contemporary about a
Palestinian who rescues a badly
beaten Israeli?
Contemporary Intolerance
Today, we are seeing
a disturbing trend towards religious
intolerance, hatred and violence
around the world.
In too many jurisdictions,
we see a willingness by governments
to discriminate, to marginalize
and to exclude persons of officially
disfavoured faiths.
We see the love, peace
and compassion taught to us
by so many religions, but also
the hurt, injuries and deaths
caused by those who seek to
attack believers in other faiths.
The actions of any who
would discount any faith and
marginalize those who wish to
exercise the basic human right
to worship in peace must be
denounced everywhere.
In
Canada, we have the right to
exercise religious freedom,
regardless of our beliefs.
This freedom to worship,
or the liberty to choose not
to worship, is one of the cornerstones
of our appeal to so many people
from other lands who come to
Canada to pursue more fulfilled
lives.
Pressures
“If our century is perhaps
characterized by the greatest
negations of Christianity in
history, it is also the century
that stands out for the extraordinary
ranks of confessors and martyrs,”
declared Pope John Paul II.
The Pontiff’s words reflect
a dichotomy of the contemporary
world: on one side, a secularization
of communities which produced
people without a developed spiritual
nature; on the other, a revival
of the search for religious
principles and ethical authority.
The challenge for believers
of all faiths is to reverse
the “shedding” of religion where
it exists by persuasion, not
coercion.
The
19th century Russian
novelist Dostoyevsky asked “Can
we be good without God?” In almost every age, the answer has been no
until now, an era when some
claim to possess the inner capacity
to do good rationally, apart
from God.
Some seek to redefine
basic values all over again.
Right and wrong for them
have no clear meaning; there
are no universal truths.
The
American criminologist, James
Q. Wilson, attempted some years
ago to identify the root causes
of the violence in American
cities.
Many blame unemployment
and poverty for violent behaviour
among a minority of young people.
Wilson discovered that
in the great period of the industrial
revolution in the second half
of the 19th century
there was actually a decrease
in crime, contrary to what he
expected to find.
He looked at the years
of the Great Depression; again
there was a significant drop
in crime.
Frustrated by these findings,
which negated so much conventional
wisdom, Wilson decided to search
for a single factor.
The one he found was
religious faith.
In times of economic
or other crises, people banded
together and their faith and
values sustained them.
Wilson concluded that
crime was in a large part caused
by a breakdown of ethics.
All faiths should help
to build on the currently improving
crime rate in Canada, the U.S.
and elsewhere.
Who
needs religion?
Can
societies remain democratic
without maintaining a religious
base?
Religious and political
freedom appear to march hand-in-hand. The strength and values of democratic government
and institutions appear to depend
upon and come from religion
at least in many democracies.
Equally important is
the religious critique of laws
and programs in such areas as
economic policy, the human rights
dimension of foreign policy,
and so forth.
Contrary to the notion
that religion is somehow merely
a purely private affair, it
is also central to the life
of a community or nation. Religion
sets forth norms and their applications
as standards against which to
measure public policies.
This is not to say that
religion dictates all public
policy, but it can and should
scrutinize measures which seem
inconsistent with the teaching
of any faith (for example, child
pornography or racial discrimination).
Canada
bears the imprint of differing
beliefs in the existence of
God, each of which in their
own way moulded Canada’s character.
Our society has the values,
ways of thinking and living
inspired by numerous religions.
Our national character
owes its roots to a pluralist
religious education based on
various concepts and attendant
ethical systems.
I pay tribute here to
those many pioneers who, basing
their work on the tested values
of various spiritual traditions,
founded towns, cities, universities
and a host of other institutions
and breathed into them the inspiration
that sustains them still.
Much
of Canadian society continues
to reflect these principles.
They have lost none of
their validity.
We might, therefore,
in adapting them to current
conditions, encourage people
to understand what our country
is and what its creative energy
is founded upon.
Myths
about Faith
One
of the cruelest myths believers
of all faiths have to dispel
is the one that being religious
makes one bigoted.
Somehow, there is an
assumption among too many people
that the more spiritual one
is the more closed-minded you
become.
Pollster George Gallup
demonstrated years ago that
practising Christians, for example,
are much more tolerant of other
creeds, philosophies and ethno-cultural
communities than non-believers.
His
study indicated that people
of what he called “strong” religious
conviction demonstrated through
extensive testing that they
were in fact more ethical in
personal dealings, more tolerant
of persons with different backgrounds,
more apt to perform charitable
acts, and more concerned about
the betterment of society than
others.
Gallup also found they
were happier than others.
So
let me conclude that I am personally
optimistic that our own and
many other faiths will flourish
in this new century. Justin
Long, a researcher working on
the Christian Encyclopaedia,
estimates that by 2025 the Christian
population will rise to about
2.8 billion from the current
estimate of about two billion.
Other faiths will grow
too, partly because we are all
helped by the collapse after
1989 of human-made gods, including
communism, etc.
Like
you and millions of other spiritual
people of every faith around
the world, I’d urge all of the
world religions to build a global
spirituality.
Robert Muller, a former
Assistant Secretary-General
of the United Nations, believes
that it is through the world’s
religions and their common conviction
that life is sacred that many
global problems can be solved.
For example, His Highness
the Aga Khan, Imam of Ismaili
Muslims, has noted: “A shared
sound ethic, underwritten by
Africa’s faiths, can help resolve
many of the problems afflicting
Africa today.”
Bible
Today
Let me switch
to the book that brings all
of us here tonight.
In the era of sailing
ships, one found itself becalmed
in the South Pacific somewhere
between Chile and East Australia.
It was carried by a current
to an island not then shown
on any chart. The crew scrambled ashore unsure of how they
might be met by any local residents.
To their surprise,
they were met by people speaking
English, who took them to a
neat village.
Their hosts turned out
to be crewmembers from the "Bounty",
who had murdered Captain Bligh.
Following the mutiny,
the "Bounty" had been
caught in a storm and wrecked
on the shores of this island.
The crew, drafted off
port city streets in Britain,
soon began to fight and even
to kill each other over ownership
of the wreckage.
In the remains
of the "Bounty", one
crewmember had found a Bible,
which he began to read to the
others.
They began to worship
and order began to take hold.
A community in which
caring and justice prevailed
gradually took root.
The few local women,
once the cause of violent jealousy,
became respected wives and homes
were built.
Pitcairn Island eventually
appeared on maps and was known
as a haven of hope for all who
came to it.
Such is the
impact of the Bible – about
1000 pages long, composed of
66 different books by several
dozen authors, and written several
thousand years ago – that wherever
humanity and social justice
are found on this planet there
is a fair likelihood that Bibles
provided by the Bible Societies
of the world are also to be
found.
In the very
month when the T.V. personality
Oprah Winfrey declared that
there are not enough good books
being published for her to endorse
regularly, I’m delighted to
be with you to celebrate one
that has changed millions upon
millions of lives for the better
during each of the past 20 centuries.
Daily
Exposure
During the past
year, I’ve been attempting most
mornings to get through the
entire book with the help of
Philip Yancey’s and Brenda Quinn’s Meet the Bible.
It’s been an interesting
experience and I’d recommend
their guide to anyone.
Another excellent daily
guide is My Utmost For His
Highest by Oswald Chambers.
There are many
reasons to read the Bible:
- Spiritual
enrichment, perhaps particularly
the New testament, but also
the Old,
- As
literature (who, including
Shakespeare and Molière, have
written better than some authors
in the Bible?),
- As
history,
- Understanding
human nature at its best,
worst and virtually every
point in between,
- A
guide to living and, most
importantly,
- Learning
about Jesus Christ, who has
touched many peoples of the
world for centuries and offers
all the promise of eternal
life.
North
Alberta Branch
The North Alberta
Branch of the Canadian Bible
Society (CBS) is part of the
vast non-denominational movement,
which began almost two centuries
ago and has maintained its trans-cultural
nature continuously since. The
first foreign language translation
was the Gospel of John translated
for Mohawks in Canada in 1804.
Local societies began
to spring up across what is
now Canada as early as 1807.
The CBS itself today
distributes Old/New Testaments
and complete Bibles in more
that 120 languages, including
23 indigenous ones.
In 1999 alone, I understand
it distributed 400,000 Bibles
and New Testaments and seven
million scripture portions and
selections. The
goal of Bible societies in more
than 200 countries is to see
lives and hearts changed through
the Word of God.
By 1999, all the national
Bible Societies, which make
up the United Bible Societies (UBS), had together translated
the Bible into an astonishing
2,233 languages.
There are still, however,
many for which there is a recognized
need.
Bibles
Abroad
In Egypt, volunteers
today go door to door for donations
and more Bible stores have been
opened to spread the Word.
In Peru, the local society
presented thousands of copies
of A Change of National Attitude—14
texts from Scripture—following
the disgraced President Fujimori’s
resignation. A scandal weary
people took warmly to the publication.
The aim of CBS
is to reach every person with
the Word of God.
In many countries, the
material provided is valued
as quality educational tools.
“New Reader Scriptures”
with simplified text and colorful
illustrations are useful in
literacy projects.
For instance, Andrew Rugege, a Ugandan working out
of the CBS office in Ottawa,
is fluent in nine languages.
He learned to read through
early exposure to the Bible.
His wife Chantal lost
several members of her family
in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda,
which was the factor bringing
them to Canada.
Janette Oke,
the Canadian author of children’s
books, says, “If a child has
only one book to read, let it
be the Bible.”
Would there not be much
less violence among children
if they were first exposed to
the Bible?
It is estimated
that 26% of the world’s adult
population (about 900 million
people) are totally illiterate.
Most have never held
a book or even touched a printed
page. Of the over six billion
people living today, about 77%
live in developing countries.
More than 95% of the
illiterate live where it is
difficult or impossible to learn
to read without outside help.
They are locked in a
time frame with no access to
discover vital information to
better understand themselves,
the world, or God’s plan for
our lives.
Faith
Abroad
On
a visit to South America and
South Africa a few years ago,
I discussed spirituality with
a number of individuals.
A leader from Central
America, a minister in the government
of El Salvador, indicated quite
spontaneously that God has been
good to her and her family.
He, she added, gives
talents to everyone; the more
one has the greater the ability
to be a “beacon”.
Whenever she feels herself
to be in God’s presence, which
I took to occur frequently for
her, she wants to use all her
abilities to advance His will.
A
Canadian colleague on the same
flight offered another perspective.
For him, Jesus offers
every believer a sound basis
for salvation because He came
into the world to help the marginalized
and suffering.
He loves every human
being and does not judge individuals
in the foolish way the world
so often does.
Love and redemption are
the promise to believers.
Several
days later in Johannesburg,
I met an old friend from Canada,
who now works there with a lay
ministry. He and some others were invited to conduct
a “spiritual wellness” forum
for employees of a large utility
company. Its management, deeply worried about the HIV/AIDS
pandemic in southern Africa,
asked Christians to speak to
employees on faith, self-esteem,
family breakdown under apartheid
and promiscuity.
Robben
Island
Soon
afterwards, I found myself on
the rocks and sand of Robben
Island off the shores of Cape
Town for an unforgettable day
of listening to one-time political
prisoners of the former maximum
security facility.
Beforehand, we 600 or
so visitors, mostly from North
America, were given a tour,
beginning with the lime quarry
known as the ‘birthplace of
reconciliation’ because there
Nelson Mandela and many leaders
of the new South Africa first
reached out in friendship to
their guards.
The
personal humiliation and natural
human desire for revenge they
had to overcome to do so became
clearer as we listened to Robben
Island ‘alumni’.
The white wardens at
Robben Island tended to be bitter
men who were often assigned
to the island as punishment.
Beatings of prisoners
were common, but in such rocky
soil the ‘miracle’ of South
Africa took root.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond
Tutu spoke of reconciliation
during a visit to Canada a few
years ago.
Emerging from 27 years
in prison, said Tutu, Mandela
“urged his own people to be
ready to forgive and to work
for reconciliation.
He has preached his gospel
of forgiveness and reconciliation
a great deal more by example
than by precept.
He invited his former
jailer to attend his presidential
inauguration as a VIP guest.
Who would have imagined South
Africa would be an example of
anything but the most awful
ghastliness?
And now we see God’s
sense of humour, for God has
chosen this unlikely lot and
set up as some kind of paradigm…that
just might provide the world
with a viable way of dealing
with a post-conflict, post-repression
period.”
In
a session on reconciliation
and the future at Robben Island,
we heard from an Anglican priest,
Michael Lapsley, who as a New
Zealander was expelled from
South Africa for working as
chaplain to both white and black
students.
Shortly after he returned
to Africa from a tour in Canada,
he received the letter bomb,
which destroyed both of his
hands.
For him, Jesus looked
to individuals at the bottom
of society and offered the form
of compassion, which liberates
rather than merely pities.
He thinks believers today
must also attend the poor, widowed
and orphaned with a similar
message.
In his own case, he has
gained much from his faith journey,
in part by refusing to accept
the “harvest of hatred” of which
he is one prominent survivor.
Conclusion
Let
me close with three questions:
- Is
it not very encouraging to
Canadians of every faith that
the Queen Mother, whose spirituality
was at the centre of one of
the most public-service-oriented
lives anywhere over more than
a century, evidently attracted
more people world wide to
observe her funeral than did
Winston Churchill?
- Is
it not good to read the cover
story of last week’s edition
(April 1) of Maclean’s magazine,
“Living the Faith—Nine
Canadian who put their beliefs
into action”?
I was struck by the
importance of the Bible in
the lives of several of the
nine women and men featured.
- Is
Reg Bibby’s latest book, Restless
Gods: The Renaissance of Religion
in Canada (Stoddart),
not encouraging to believers
of many faiths?
I gather the work concludes
that God is very much alive
in the hearts and minds of
Canadians and that if our
various faith groups do the
right thing they are primed
for renewal.
Fully 81 per cent of
Bibby’s respondents across
Canada attested to their belief
in God.
Three out of four Canadians
say they pray at least occasionally
and nearly half claim to have
personally experienced God.
His 2000 survey, moreover,
indicates that for the first
time in years church attendance
among teens is on the rise.
In
short, let us all resolve to
support the work of our Branch
of the CBS even more strongly
tonight and in the years ahead.
Thank
you and God Bless!
