Contents
Articles
- Previewing the 1995 Conference
- The Theology Strand: Yesterday's God, Today's God, David Hart, Stephen Mitchell
- The Rituals Strand: Telling Stories, David Paterson, Ronald Pearse
- The Politics Strand: Red, Blue or Green?, David Boulton
- SoF and the Roman Tradition, John Challenor
- A Religious Humanist Manifesto
- Imagine..., John Hodgkinson
- That Questionnaire
- Quote Unquote
- Those Labels, David Boulton
Reviews
- Simple Anthony and Clever Dick, Stephen Mitchell
Regulars and Occasionals
Editorial
Contributions for the next issue should reach the editor by May 31. Send (with stamped addressed envelope) to David Boulton, Hobsons, Dent, Cumbria LAI0 5RF GREY AREAS It has been a remarkable couple of months. An Anglican bishop speaking openly about his own homosexuality. Another, the third-in-line in the Anglican hierarchy, acknowledging that his own sexuality is ambiguous: a ‘‘grey area’. A Roman Catholic Cardinal saying there’s nothing wrong with homosexual love (though everything wrong with expressing it physically). And the Archbishop of Canterbury inviting ‘every part of the church to face the questions about sexuality with honesty’’. All in response to the ‘‘outing’’ tactics of Outrage! which, like it or not, have done more to force the hierarchies to face the facts of life than more discreet forms of pressure or protest have ever achieved.
The Archbishop’s statement is potentially the most far-reaching.
He acknowledges that ‘‘around the world serious questions relating to human sexuality are being faced by the Church’’.
The traditional response, he says, is simply ‘‘to affirm the moral precepts which have come down to us through the tradition of the Church’’. But that, he implies, just won’t do any more. *‘We are conscious that within the Church itself there are those whose pattern of sexual expression is at variance with the received Christian moral tradition’. So instead of merely calling up tradition - this bit of Moses and that bit of the Church Fathers - he calls for ‘ta careful process of reflection on contemporary forms of behaviour’’.
Of course, that hardly amounts to the total abandonment of Tradition as ultimate authority, but it does imply recognition that Tradition is not enough. It is contemporary forms of sexual behaviour which call for ‘‘a process of reflection’: an acknowledgement that times change, cultures shift, human behaviour - or at least the way we view human behaviour - is not fixed and constant. And that is a step in the direction of recognising that our moral values are human values, created Here Below and not imposed on us from Up Above.
Bishop John Spong (I imagine) would argue that sexual expression - heterosexual or homosexual - is a gift of God, and let Leviticus go hang. Don Cupitt (I imagine) would say that love is God is love. It amounts to the same thing. When the churches get down to that process of ‘‘reflection’’, they will be reflecting not on the mind of God (even if that is the language they choose to use to describe what they are doing) but on human emotion, human behaviour, human passion.
The editorial in the January issue calling for repentance to mark the 900th anniversary of the First Crusade raises the question whether there is an obligation upon us to repent for any war or atrocity committed in the distant past.
Although perhaps, given the historical chance, we would possibly have been opposed to it at the time, surely we cannot now feel any responsibility. Man’s inhumanity to Man has been, and still is, of such perverse proportions that such a call for repentance, if carried effectively to a logical conclusion, would rightly have the whole human race donning sackcloth and ashes.
Rather than repentance - and perhaps this was the intention - would a more suitable call have been for atonement, in which Christians and Moslems might seek reconciliation with each other, despite the sins of our fathers and despite our own sins and weaknesses?
Collectively the human race is slow to learn the lessons of history, and the enigma at the heart of the human situation lies in that slowness of learning. - George Higgins, 52 Devonshire Street, Keighley, BD21 2BL.
— George Higgins, Keighley
In place of Christmas I would like to suggest to Sylvia Batley (Postbag, January) that there is no need to stop believing in the Christmas story, or at least there is absolutely no reason to feel desolate or look for a replacement just because she has come to recognise that the Christmas story is a human creation. On the contrary, we need no longer feel hurt or offended when somebody pooh-poohs it all as just a myth. For we know it is just a myth, and none the worse for that! The beautiful and heart-rending story is no less heart-rending, beautiful or meaningful just because it is mythical.
About 40 years ago it dawned on me one day that, if modem science were somehow to prove conclusively that Jesus in fact never rose from the dead, or even never existed, it would make not the slightest difference to the significance of the Christian message. It was the liberating and inspiring notions embodied in the story and the ideas flowing from it which were important to me at the time; and the question of whether or not those miraculous events really happened became purely academic in comparison. If the principles, concepts and values (spiritual or otherwise) of Christianity are important and useful to us today, why then does it matter whether the Gospel story is history or myth? To quote Jesus himself, ““By their fruits ye shall know them’’. - David Clough, 2 Netley Dell, Letchworth, Herts SG6 2TF.
— David Clough, Letchworth
SoF in USA?
Thanks to the attenders of the 1994 Conference for the welcome extended to this American ‘‘Seafarer’’. Was the hugging that followed the closing session intended to make a Californian feel at home? I look forward to being in Leicester this July and to resuming the conversations begun last year.
These are hard days in the USA for radicals and liberals, including the religious sorts. The recently victorious Republican Party appears to have become the ‘‘Party of God’’, Politicians claim in all seriousness that organized prayer in state schools will result in higher examination scores and reduced violence. A recent study revealed that forty percent of the US population thought the world was created six thousand years ago.
By contrast, the San Francisco Bay area seems a sanctuary of enlightenment. Karen Armstrong’s A History of God spent several months on the local bestsellers lists, and Ms Armstrong’s local appearances were well attended. San Franciscans turned out the only Republican on the city council and elected three gay Supervisors in a “‘lavender sweep’’. The religious diversity and syncretism of this region make me think I am not so much standing on the edge of the Sea of Faith as wandering through the spiritual bazaar of ancient Alexandria. (Thanks to one of our local Gnostic bishops for that image). The Bay area, however, represents a tiny part of North America.
I wish I could report on a flourishing Network in North America. We certainly need a Sea of Faith Network on this continent. British members can help in its formation by telling their North American friends who might be sympathetic to our statement of intent to contact me and to provide their addresses as a first step in developing a mailing list. - John Klopacz, 50 Samoset Street, San Francisco, CA 94110 USA.
— John Klopacz, San Francisco
Promoting ourselves In reply to Ronald Pearse’s article (January) we have two suggestions for the Steering Committee: 1. Try a brief ‘‘denominational’’ meeting at this year’s Conference. At the very least, such a meeting might give comfort to those who come from communities where SoF is unheard of. Some of the groups may wish to take things further, if only to write a Conference report for their denominational magazine. (We have historical links with the Baptists and saw, a little too late, a Baptist Times article about Freeman’s book which suggested that there are no Baptists in SoF). 2. Try to get SoF known in the theological colleges.
Cupitt et al must be mentioned in lectures or reading lists, but do interested students know how to contact SoF? - Margaret and Vernon Griffiths, 2 Brecon Close, Swindon SN3 1JT.
— Margaret and Vernon Griffiths, Swindon
Church groups - Yes!
At the end of Ronald Pearse’s article you ask ‘‘What do you think...? Should we be networking within the institutions?”’ My answer is ‘‘Yes’’. I am a Christian - cradle C of E - and I want the Church to be able to guide people freely in their search for spirituality.
The Christian myth is powerful - and the Church has buried this talent that it possesses. I should like to see SoF exploring the Christian myth as myth - to discover what it has to say about human beings, about the rest of creation, about the world we have made and are making, and exploring why it has developed as it has.
But how to do this? I am sure there are many in our congregations, bewildered by the official teaching they get, who would be helped and freed by SoF networking.
Don Cupitt must not be swept under the carpet, stamped on or whatever, as J A T Robinson was - and still is.
I should like a local SoF group if there are any members in Dorset, and would welcome more Christian SoF articles in the magazine. - M Boxwell, 38 Abbots Walk, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 7JN.
— M Boxwell, Cerne Abbas, Dorchester, Dorset
Church groups - No!
In response to the article by Ronald Pearse, we were members of the Methodist Church for over 56 years (1938-1994) until we were 72 years old. After years of reading and discussion we became increasingly at odds with the teaching of our local church, and we were alarmed by the continuing emphasis on fundamentalist views and the exclusiveness and superiority of the Christian faith.
We had a long meeting with our lady minister telling her that we had joined the SoF in 1993 and that we no longer accepted the historical truth of Christian beliefs. We made clear to her that we followed a strong moral code and revered the man Jesus of Nazareth and other historical figures who had demonstrated loving care in helping peoples of the world. The response was that we could no longer be accepted as members of the Methodist Church.
Consequently we were quite unable to promote any SoF ideas within Methodism, and we had to accept that we had to be religious ‘‘in vacuo”’ or cling to our memories of experiences. From this you will conclude that we cannot support the idea of ‘“‘religious faith groupings’’.
We think it is essential to remove barriers, not create them. Religious divisions of all kinds between peoples, with their associated doctrines, writings and ceremonials, serve only to distract from the singular spirituality which should embrace all mankind, Adherence to elements’ of sectarian practices and beliefs only perpetuates differences. It is difficult to give up our particular religious identities, but we think this has to be the aim of all who seek to unite peoples in the quest for a world-wide caring society. - Betty and Norman Pierpoint, 2 Over Hall Close, Mirfield, West Yorkshire WF 14 9LL.
— Betty and Norman Pierpoint, Mirfield, West Yorkshire
Doing without faith I wonder if I am alone in finding the initials of Sea of Faith more acceptable than the words. If the tide of that Sea was receding in Arnold’s day, how much more has it receded in ours?
Faith was the only recourse in the times to which he was looking back in nostalgia but it is not the word for today.
It implies the existence of some power other than our own reason and energy for solving, say, international situations, population control, disease, food production, environmental damage and so on - a sort of resignation.
Yet here we go ‘‘exploring religious faith as a human creation’’. History is full of the different rituals that have answered as religion at particular times, all devised by man and attributed to gods, and why therefore do we explore further?
There is so much that is quite staggeringly awesome: the delicate balance of temperature and atmosphere that permits life to exist at all, and the amazing complexity of the smallest components of that life. This is our heritage - an occasion for awe and the exercise of wisdom to ensure that the human race does not destroy this heritage and itself as well.
This is not a matter for faith. The word ‘‘religion’’ probably comes from the Latin ‘‘to bind’’, and perhaps a binding of awe and wisdom should constitute the religious approach in the future. Perhaps our aim might be ‘‘to explore and promote a religious approach in the modern world’’. - WJ Milne.
— WJ Milne