Transforming Life

I was listening to Christopher Hitchens’ debate on religion with Tony Blair on the radio and had to agree with many of Hitchens’ examples of religious excess and hubris. Human history is littered with examples of abuses in every institution.

But do poor marriages mean the institution of marriage should be banned? Do corrupt political leaders mean that we should abandon politics? Hopefully abusive teachers and doctors do not mean we should close all hospitals or schools. And one can argue that a fundamentalist interpretation of faith does not mean that religion must be narrow-minded and exclusive.

Hitchens can point out the lack of logic and common sense of much religion but he cannot negate the powerful effect of a spiritual leader like Gandhi.

A poster that hangs in my home office is graced by a quote from Gandhi. He lists the 7 deadly social sins:

politics without principle
wealth without work
commerce without morality
pleasure without conscience
education without character
science without humanity
worship without sacrifice

Will that kind of critique and reminder of what truly matters to human beings ever lose its power to transform life?


Peter

Do I Need To Be A Member?

Here's an interesting stat that confirms what many of us have been noticing in recent years. 1n 2001 about 11% of church goers were not members nor were they seeking to be members. Now ten years later, that number is about the same. But...the number of young adults in that grouping is close to double those who are over 45.

So what does that mean? What do we do?

One response would be to do a whole lot more to try convince the under 45s to change their ways and officially join up. Another response which I think we are trying to live into at Emmanuel is to find ways for young people to be connected and involved in our ministry in all kinds of ways. There are many paths up the mountain. Let's keep them all open.


Peter