Is Religion a Force for Moral Good?
IN ANSWER to this question, millions would agree with George Bernard Shaw, who wrote: “Religion is a great force—the only real motive force in the world.” Contrariwise, 19th-century English author John Ruskin, writing on the basis for honesty, satirized: “A knave’s religion is always the rottenest thing about him.” Which view do you think is closer to the truth?
As evidence for religion’s moral force, someone might point to an individual who became a “changed man” when he ‘dedicated his life to Jesus Christ.’ That is how an international magazine described the “conversion” of Charles Colson, who had been involved in the Watergate scandal. Someone else might point to those who claim that their religion saved them from a life of prostitution or alcoholism. In non-Christian lands, millions of Bibles have been distributed, which undoubtedly has helped many people to improve their lives morally. Evidently, religion has exerted a good moral influence on such persons.
The Negative Side
On the other hand, Hitler’s religion was not much of a deterrent to him. This led sincere persons to wonder why an appeal made to Pope Pius XII to excommunicate Hitler was never answered. The Catholic Telegraph-Register of Cincinnati, Ohio, under the heading “Reared as Catholic but Violates Faith Says Cable to Pope,” reported: “An appeal has been made to Pius XII that Reichsfuehrer Adolph Hitler be excommunicated.” If this action had been taken, might it have affected the outcome of the war and helped spare mankind much suffering? Sad to say, the pope never responded.
Concubinage is very common in some Catholic countries in South America. And in North America a monsignor wrote the editorial: “Legalize Prostitution—It’s the Saintly Solution.” (Philadelphia Daily News) Take a look also at the conditions in some Protestant countries where wife swapping, premarital sex, and sex without marriage are quite common. We find a reason for this suggested in the newspaper caption: “Pastors Silent on Premarital Sex.” The article said: “The pastors of America have been sinfully silent in preaching on premarital sex . . . They are afraid they will lose some of their parishioners.” (Telegraph, North Platte, Nebraska) So is all religion a force for moral good?
In Christendom, religion’s lack of moral force is most evident during wartime. See what you think of these nice-sounding claims. In 1934 Walter W. Van Kirk, then secretary of a department of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, wrote: “Preachers and laymen have taken a solemn stand against war . . . This peace crusade of the churches emerges from the conviction that war is absolutely contrary to the preaching and practice of Jesus.” (Religion Renounces War) After citing several churches and clergymen, the book concluded: “The churches, in the main, have clearly stated that they are no longer to be regarded as allies in the business of killing and maiming humans. The preachers are . . . washing their hands of the blood of their fellows, they are parting company with Caesar.”
However, those optimistic predictions regrettably did not come true. When World War II broke out, not one of the main religions of Christendom took a firm stand to ‘renounce war.’ Did the church in your area do so?
Broken Moral Fences
Having considered some evidence on both sides, would you not agree that in all too many cases, the popular religions of the world have not been a strong force for moral good? Look magazine declared: “The churches . . . have failed to supply moral leadership, and because their responsibility is the greatest, their failure is the worst.” The Courier-Mail of Brisbane, Australia, commented on the failure of Christendom’s religion to provide a restraint on sexual immorality: “When it comes to Bishops and Canons . . . writing that extramarital intercourse may be an act of charity that ‘proclaims the Glory of God,’ . . . that fornication is not bad in itself nor adultery necessarily wrong; then the ordinary man and woman, and particularly the adolescent boy and girl, become confused between right and wrong. The result of all this propaganda for the New Morality has been a breaking down of moral fences.”
No, in the main, the world’s religions are not a real force for moral good. On the contrary, they must take some responsibility for the sad state of morals today. However, since religion is supposed to mean “service and worship of God or the supernatural,” should it not be a force for good in all countries where it prevails? What is lacking? How can your religion exert such a force today?