A
fascinating and thoughtful article in the Wall
Street Journal (Feb 18, 2012) laments the “loss of a sense of community” in
our culture. I call it fascinating for the simple reason that its author
acknowledges that its loss is traceable directly to “the privatization of
religious belief that occurred in Europe and the U.S. in the 19th
century” – when faith was booted off the town square of public, communal truth
and relegated to the ghetto of private, non-falsifiable personal opinion.
Alain
de Botton, author of the article in question, is an atheist who wants to find a
way to recover the spirit of community in a secular world. The one thing he
will not suggest is a return to a personal God, authoritative Scripture, or
objective behavioral standards. He suggests a path to building a superstructure
for community without bothering with the foundation of faith.
The
article is titled “Religion for Everyone” and seems to be a sincere lament over
the loneliness that radical individualism has created; when each of us is an
island of her own wants, fears, and self-defined values, heady isolation
quickly becomes cold seclusion from others – all of whom struggle with their
own wants, fears, and self-created values that are in conflict with those of
others.
De
Botton has the dual goal of moving people from personal selfishness to harmony
and from despair to hope. So he suggests an Agape Restaurant where people could
read and reflect on the Book of Agape. (No, I’m not making this up!) All
genders, ethnicities, and customary distinctions would sit together; there
would be a spirit of acceptance leading to friendship. Readings would allow
people to explore all degrees of alienation and pain, fear and regret. The
result of an evening there would be compassion, forgiveness, and unity.
The
de Botton agenda intrigues me. Invites me. Encourages me. And I wish our human
failure across the centuries had not left him so disillusioned with faith that
he cannot see that his quest is doomed to failure. (There’s certainly a lesson
here for those of us who love the church to get our act together!)
No
less than Thomas Jefferson produced an edition of the New Testament that
omitted the supernatural in order to leave only the moral teachings of Jesus unfettered
by faith; but the authority to teach as he did derives from his incomparable
divine nature put on exhibit in his occasional miraculous actions. Similarly,
our quest for community begins with a common confession of need (sinfulness)
and the unity created by receiving and sharing the healing (forgiveness) God
offers in Agape Restaurants (churches) that are open to the ultimate Book of
Agape (the Bible) that tells a story of Good News worth sharing.
One
follow-up letter to the Journal
summed up my view of the article pretty well: “Certainly seems like a lot of
trouble just to avoid going to church.”
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