Category Archives: Religion

George Pell and Tim Minchin

Standard

You may know about Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior and most prominent Catholic.  He is suspected of having covered up cases of child abuse by priests – indeed, he has been accused of being an abuser himself – and has consequently been summoned to appear before Australia’s long-running Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.  Unfortunately he is in Rome at the moment, helping to clean up the Vatican’s finances, and he is too ill to travel.

Some mean-spirited people think he’s only pretending to be ill, because that’s what most people do when they’re summoned to face serious charges in another country.  These mean-spirited people think Cardinal Pell is afraid to come back to Australia and face his accusers – and perhaps get arrested.  Me, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the case has inspired Tim Minchin to write and record a song.  Tim is a musical and comical genius and the video clip is worth seeing.  He’s quite rude about Cardinal Pell, which may turn out to be unfair, but it’s so clever, funny and musical that I think a little rudeness is forgivable.

In case the name is not familiar to you, Tim Minchin wrote and performs the brilliantly satirical song ‘Storm’ and wrote the musical ‘Matilda’, currently running in London, Sydney and perhaps elsewhere.

Here’s a link to a site where you can see and hear Tim singing ‘Come Home Cardinal Pell’, ‘Storm’ and other songs.

The Apocrypha

Standard

We use the adjective ‘apocryphal’ to mean ‘ of doubtful authenticity’, but how many of us have read or even glimpsed a copy of the Apocrypha? The word comes from Greek of course, and means ‘hidden’. The Apocrypha is a collection of 14 books that have been appended to some versions of the Old Testament but are not generally recognised as authoritative scripture.

I found a copy of the Apocrypha among my grandfather’s papers. He signed the flyleaf and dated it 26/6/02, when he was 20 years old. A label on the inside cover informs the reader thus:

Extract from the Sixth Article of Religion (Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation):

“And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine…”

It goes on to list the 14 books, some of which are very short. One of the short ones is the Story (or History) or Susanna. I found that I knew the story without knowing its provenance. It’s the one about the woman, while bathing in her secluded garden, is raped by two elders who then falsely accuse her of adultery with a young man who supposedly fled the scene. God alerts a man called Daniel to the truth of the matter and instead of executing Susanna the pious crowd turns on the elders.

The story has inspired artists including Jacob Jordaens, who painted this version (Susanna and the Elders) in 1653.

SusannaAndTheElders1653

Regrettably the custom of punishing rape victims has not died out everywhere. Perhaps we should all read the Apocrypha “for example of life and instruction of manners.”

Letters to the Editor

Standard

Fame as an author is coming more slowly than I expected, so yesterday I decided to take a short-cut: I wrote a letter to the Adelaide Advertiser.  And it was published this morning!

It wasn’t anything momentous. I was just expressing agreement with an article by Tory Shepherd in the same paper, reinforcing the point that race, culture and religion are distinct things.  I suggested that the three are often mischievously conflated so as to pin the label ‘Racist’ on people who object to some religious beliefs or cultural practices.

But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about the reasons why people write to newspapers – why I write to newspapers.  I’m honestly not sure whether I do it because a) I sincerely believe that my small voice, added to a swell of others, may lead to some incalculable but significant improvement in the condition of humanity; or b) I’m an egotistical attention-seeker frustrated by my own impotence.

Do you write to newspapers? If so, why?

Jimmy Carter and the Southern Baptists

Standard

Jimmy Carter and the Southern Baptists

I have always respected Jimmy Carter, even when his enemies portrayed him as a naive do-gooder and drew attention to his being a peanut farmer, implying that such an occupation was incompatible with his role as Commander-in-Chief.

My respect for him went up several notches today when I read that he had severed his ties with the Southern Baptist Convention because of its insistence on women’s subordinate place in God’s creation.  Here is a direct quotation from Jimmy Carter’s public statement on the matter:

“ I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. ”

Go here to see his statement in full in the Sydney Morning Herald.

 

Islamic Reformation?

Standard

I’ve read and heard several commentators lately, either advocating an islamic version of the Christian Reformation or arguing that such an event has already happened and the results are not pretty.

Former Australian PM Tony Abbott leads the advocacy pack, implying that a reformation would be a modernising influence, moving Islam away from the beliefs and practices that make it barbaric in many people’s eyes.  I don’t want to put words into Mr Abbott’s mouth, but I assume he would share my hope that modernisation would do away with animal sacrifice, pointless dietary rules, punitive mutilation, oppression of women, suppression of other beliefs, contempt for infidels, and capital punishment of individuals categorised as blasphemers, apostates and heretics.

Waleed Aly, a young Australian Muslim who has become my second favourite radio journalist, argues that “Islam’s own version of the Reformation already occurred in the 18th century” and led to Wahhabism, a form of Sunni Islam which is enforced in Saudi Arabia and is the philosophical platform for al-Qaeda, DAESH and other extremist organisations.

Paul Monk disagrees with Waleed Aly in many things but agrees with him in this.  I commend his article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The UK’s Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, also agrees. In a recent interview on Australian radio he pointed out that the Christian Reformation was a reaction against corruption in the Catholic Church.  The reformers wanted to return to true Christian values.  This is how Md ibn Abd al-Wahhab saw his 18th century reformation: a return to true Islamic values.

It is as erroneous as it is understandable that we tend to equate ‘reform’ with ‘improvement’, ‘progress’ and ‘becoming more like us’.

 

Carols

Standard

During the past week Mrs SG and I have attended two carol-singing events organised by local councils. People of all ages brought folding chairs and picnics and sang along with some very talented choirs and bands.  Santa Claus found time to drop in on both occasions.

I am an atheist, but brought up in a Christian cultural environment. I don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, any more than I believe in the existence of God, but I was moved nonetheless by The Christmas Story and even felt my eyes moisten during Good King Wenceslas.

The same moistening happened when I read the last chapter of Watership Down, when the Black Rabbit of Inlé came for Hazel.  I was on a Liverpool-bound train to visit my mother for the first time since my father died.  And I was shedding tears for a dead fictional rabbit.

It also happened every time I read the last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner to our elder son – the chapter where Christopher Robin tries to explain to Pooh that he’s going off to school and things won’t be the same.  It’s the end of childhood, the end of innocence.

So I sort of understand people who have been brought up in other religious and literary traditions for whom the stories they heard when they were very young resonate deep within throughout their lives. Sometimes that resonance cause them to do irrational and even – in my eyes – wicked things.

 

In the Beginning

Standard

I’ve mentioned my fundamentalist friend Peter before, haven’t I? He comes to the door about once a month to talk to me.  If no-one’s at home he leaves leaflets in the letterbox.  As fundamentalists go he’s at the end of the spectrum where AK-47s are considered impolite: he’s a Jehovah’s Witness.

Last week we had a lively debate about the origins of life, the universe and everything*. He enjoyed it so much that he came back the next day with two more leaflets called ‘The Origin of Life’ and ‘Was Life Created?’

‘The Origin of Life’ starts off by explaining how improbably benign our planet is – perfect for the survival of the species of plants and animals that inhabit it, and their complex interactions. The conclusion is that only an intelligent, purposeful creator could have provided for us so perfectly.

The logical flaw in this is so blindingly obvious that I am half-afraid, when I explain it to Peter on his next visit, that his faith will be shattered. “Peter,” I shall say, “is it not possible that the plants and animals have evolved in such a way that they are able to survive in the conditions that happen to prevail on Earth?”

“What?” he will exclaim, his eyes wide, the blood draining from his face, “You mean, we’ve had it the wrong way round all the time? How could we have been so misled!  This is surely the devil’s work!”

I will of course try to comfort him. “You are not alone,” I shall say. “Every day people are mistaking correlation for proof of causation, and assuming a direction of causation that suits their preconceived ideas.  You are human.  You are made in the image of God.  God makes mistakes.  So do you.”

Peter will be dumbstruck for the first time in his life.

“Let me give you an example,” I shall say, my voice and eyes expressing empathy. “Have you heard it said that men who do more housework get more sex?**”

“Ye-es.”

“Well I say unto you, ‘Men who get more sex do more housework.’ Do you understand?”

“Not a word, but I believe you are a true prophet! May I touch the hem of your raiment?”

Footnotes

* This is a nod towards Douglas’ Adams’s brilliant work ‘The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy‘, which I have also mentioned before.

** But there are different opinions.  See here for the pro case and here for the anti.

Name-Calling

Standard

If you want to put someone in a really bad light, call them a racist. This is what’s happening in Australia (and elsewhere) to people who express criticism of Islam.  I don’t get it.  Anyone can be a Muslim, regardless of their race.  Islam is an ideology, not an ethnicity.

A lot of people, especially people in advanced secular societies, don’t much like the beliefs and values that followers of the various branches of Islam adhere to. As an atheist I can understand why. What I can’t understand is why people should be howled down or insulted for expressing an honest opinion.

Murdering Atheists in Bangladesh

Standard

I just read an alarming article in the Guardian Weekly. It was about a series of murders of Bangladeshi atheists by Muslim fundamentalists. Mrs SG and I met and married in Bangladesh (or East Pakistan as it then was) so we have a soft spot for the country.

We also have some understanding of Bengali cultural traditions, which are characterised by love of learning and literature, intellectual inquiry, openness to ideas. It is especially painful, therefore, to read that intellectual fascism is gaining ascendancy in that land.

Horrible though the murders are, the effect of intimidation on others is just as serious. People emigrate, stay silent or pretend belief they do not hold, to protect themselves and their families.

Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” This is an eternal truth. All of us, whether writers, politicians, judges, police officers or teachers, have responsibility to resist evil wherever we find it.

This is easy for me to say, of course. I live in a leafy suburb in Adelaide. I do not meet terrorists, murderers or drug-dealers on my way to the post office. The only religious fundamentalist I know is Peter, the Jehovah’s Witness who comes to chat to me once a month in the dim hope that I will one day see the light.

But I hope that, if confronted by raw evil such as now afflicts Bangladesh, I will find a kind of courage that I have never had to call on before.