MILES HOWARTH is one of the small group of SoF Network steering committe members who have been working behind the scenes to organise the 1998 Conference, prepare the ground for recruiting a Development Worker and set up a Sea of Faith charitable trust. Here he argues that it’s...
Time to press the Fast-Forward Button ost of us in the Sea of Faith Mee gone through a major reorientation. The majority have moved away from literal religion.
A few — precious few — have never been much affected by religion but have started to sense that traditional humanism presents too narrow a view of what it really means to be human.
Wherever we have come from the question is: what now lies ahead? Can we draw on the accumulated wisdom which is to be found within traditional religion while remaining true to our experience? What do we believe in?
What new value-affirming, motivating structures have to be designed and put in place? This process of re-orientation is nota game, nor a mere intellectual exercise, but has practical consequences central to our personal lives and those of others.
The SoF Network itself is also in this situation; it is its members.
Together we have achieved a great deal over the last ten years. What should now be our priorities and activities?
Perhaps I cati suggest some pointers, without claiming much originality. |. Supporting and sharing How can SoF assist with each individual's ongoing process of selfdiscovery? Initially there is the escape hatch from religious literalism — traumatic for some. Once through it, new opportunities open out; their breadth can be exhilarating but there are also pitfalls to be avoided. There is a need for mutual support, structure and tangible outcomes. Recent “Wherever we have come from the question is: what now lies ahead? Can we draw on the accumulated wisdom which is to be found within traditional religion while remaining true to our experience?” conference workshops on “SoF for beginners”, “Review of recent literature” and “Building your own theology” have been very successful. Maybe there would be a market for some kind of well-structured SoF self-development kit: call it the “Omega Course”? Maybe, in time, a need will arise to widen the scope of the SoF Network itself.
And there is a need for companionship, to feel that there are others who understand, to whom we can relate and with whom the _ religious dimension can be enjoyable and mean something. 2. Not giving up on religion Given the daily abuses perpetrated in the name of religion, the temptations just to drift away from it all are strong — seeing it as a lower priority in life, or a problem now solved. Vast numbers of people, in Europe at least, have done so long ago. But SoF’s Objects do not imply throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We still need a faith to live by, to get us through our daily lives.
What can ‘we salvage from the wreckage?
On the theological and intellectual dimension Don Cupitt in After God is trying to move the discussion forward by suggesting three features of a revitalised form of religion. Inexpertly summarised, they are: * “God’s Eye” — we look at ourselves and our lives as if with a God’s-eye view, retaining valid insights which have formed part of religion; * “Solar Living” — we create meaning and value for ourselves by our actions. ¢ “The Blissful Void” — like Buddhists we meditate upon emptiness and nothingness, as a background against which to relax and put our life into perspective. 3. Having faith We are urged to “think for ourselves”.
Fine as far as it goes. So do many other people. SoF’s objects are a good deal more specific — to explore and promote religious faith as a human creation. So what is this crucial faith element? In what or whom? Agreeing on what we don’t believe is very reassuring — the stuff of some animated conversations at SoF gatherings. But then we must move on. Lack of faith can be dispiriting or worse — a dangerous way of coping with things which really matter in our lives. We have to articulate a new faith to which we can commit ourselves individually, and which has communal validity. A major task indeed.
Publications in SoF’s favourite flavours will continue to point the way, but SoF events and networks are important in order to inform, enliven, widen and humanise.
For me, the commitment and behaviour end-game is inspiration and modification. The evangelicals have got this bit right, whatever else can be said. If religion doesn’t achieve these, if it doesn’t really matter to us in an existential sense, my book says “Your religion needs a_ radical rethink”. Once having rejected the dogma of original sin, and the assumption that everything Jesus is supposed to have done and said is historical fact, my suggested starting point is, simply stated, faith in people — in both ourselves and others. 4. Religious imagery And I come from a Puritan background! Jude Bullock’s compelling article in the last issue of this magazine, and Don Cupitt’s After God, both modernism will have gone too far, and we will have become so destructive that it will be too late... I am suggesting that we can and should now be uninhibited and eclectic in creating new religious meanings, practices and narratives out of the material available to us”.
There’s a warning and a challenge here. The potential is enormous. I am constantly coming across people who are searching for value and meaning in their lives, are not happy with what traditional religion has to offer and are attracted by the SoF approach.
We're still on a wave. We have to retain our balance, concentrate on what is important, plan for growth encourage us to cultivate and re-create symbols, _ stories, rituals and things of beauty which stir us emotionally because they have value and meaning for us. We need a faith which does not insult our intelligence and which does not clash with facts, but at the same time we need this faith to motivate us in our daily lives, something to be passionate about.
David Boulton in the last issue does well to warn of the dangers of objective rationality. But are humanism and spiritual awareness really at odds? Are we too exclusively intellectual? I sometimes wonder whether Jesus’ credentials would have earned him an invitation as a Conference speaker.
For such reasons, and in response to Conference feedback, the Steering Committee has chosen as the theme of next summer's national conference “What on earth is spirituality?” -— a chance to get beyond words-wordswords and the intellectualised logicchopping, a chance to be experiential as well as analytical, to develop religion as an activity as well as (but certainly not instead of) studying it as a phenomenon. One key speaker will be Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Our World in Transition and the recent Reclaiming Spirituality. In potential contrast, but not violently so, will be Robert Ashby of the British Humanist Association. And, of course, Don Cupitt who will no doubt be pursuing the themes outlined earlier. There will be opportunities for drawing on the imagery within various traditions which SoFers themselves see as valuable in order to celebrate their religion.
Perhaps we can further develop practices, even rituals, which are particularly meaningful to Sof, celebrating our particular approach to the spiritual life. A workshop is also planned for the sceptics — those who have doubts about spirituality; maybe it's a matter of broadening the concept. 5. The cutting edge I have emphasised that the process of reconstructing our religion through SoF should be at the same time intellectual, emotional and practical - not just talking about religion. I leave others to agonise whether to remain within or outside the traditional churches; as a Unitarian (whatever that means) the question concerns me less than if I were identified with a mainstream church. Don Cupitt’s upbeat advice in After God is that “we should begin work without delay on the development of a new world faith.
Unless something new _ is launched quickly, I fear that the process of post- Time to get our skates on? and keep surging forward. I am an optimistic expansionist, looking forward to the day when religion, in a regenerated, liberalised form, is again seen as important in the public arena. We need to surprise and transform ourselves — a healthy and rejuvenating process.
Getting down to mere practicalities, let’s rehearse fora moment the current areas of activity through which the Steering Committee is pursuing SoF’s Objects: * Publications -— this magazine, Portholes, books, leaflets, tapes, Website, collections of material. More is planned but we rely crucially on individual inspiration and initiative. ¢ Local groups — developing the number, activity range and qualitative strength. ¢ The national scene — our summer conference, other national gatherings, our Religious Education Commission, networking with like-minded bodies, creating and exploiting media opportunities.
We need a Development Worker to bring in promotional expertise, we need a stronger infrastructure of funding and we need committed volunteers to push SoF forward in various ways — thinkers and leaders and administrators. Above all, we need faith in the future. Think big!