Faith and Reason - the political challenge

Any visitor to the Vatican like myself not as a Catholic but as a tourist could not help but marvel at the glories that were Rome and the enormous advancement of Christianity through the organ of that powerful state. In its essence the existance of the See of Rome brought Christianity as a force to the entire planet preaching the love of Christ albeit in the schism and disunity of various sects. How wonderful then and modernising that Pope Benedict has ignored the schism in favour of promoting the central core of all Religious Faiths which is that of the Unity of God and the importance of Religious belief in society.
In this spirit I wanted to share my amusing encounter with the concept of Religious Unity when as an ex-Presbyterian I ended up saying a prayer for the Pope something that might be considered as quite a contradiction by those schooled with the differences in Faith, (which is perhaps in itelf a contradiction).
Whilst in Rome in 2005 I found myself searching for the entrance of the Vatican Museum and when unable to find it found myself accidently walking around the entire vatican itself in a kind of circumambulation. As I realised my mistake I thought to take up prayer for the Pope since I had my own Religious Faith and I thought perhaps my prayer that was about the Intergral Unity of All religions might permeate those walls. I said for the Pope a Baha'i prayer called the 'Remover of Difficulties' to help him recognise that All Religions are One. How arrogant that perhaps a hapless tourist of little recognition could have this wish. I walked around the high Edifice saying ' Is there any remover of difficulties save God say praised be God he is God, All are his servants and all abide by his biding.' Such was the vastness of the Vatican I was to say some hundred or so prayers for the Pope to recognise the Unity of his Faith and all other true religions.

How wonderful therefore that God answered the prayer of the breathless tourist some five years later with Pope Benedict arriving in Britain to call his brethern to a larger statement of their Faith that would encompose all groups in Christianity and exort other religions in extolling the importance in the belief in God for society.

Guarding against 'Agressive Secularism'
How very important it is that society accept Religion as a guidance in life as a force for Good. When politicians shut out Religions from Society they in fact prevent themselves from being a force of Good and become open to other more disunited forces of greed, tyranny and vested interests. Presenting one class or ideology, whether lower of upper class against one another in conflict can not in itself resolve the extreme problems of society.' A politician who only represents one class (lower or higher) of his constituents can not in fact be a proper politician because he or she is not representing all the people he was elected to represent.' Nor, at this jucture, with corruption at its highest, can any person of Relgion stand idly by and watch the subordination of Relgion in public life without taking up a voice of intervention and warning, and in this the Pope is quite correct.

Therefore let the Politician extol the virtues of Religious work with the poor the sick and needy and recognise the call to service, in which the role of the PUBLIC SERVANT is a more real and considered one. Im sure that the Pope might agree albeit that he has greater abilities to command it than a single solitary tourist or citizen of the UK.

Religion, of which ever Faith, beit Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Baha'i and the many others not mentioned here, should be given room in society to join in to play its part. Religion must not be marginalised because when this happens, society fails to have the guidance that in its essence prevents corruption, greed, violence and emnity. Without Religion, society becomes but only an empty shell. We are all more than the sum of our parts, how else therefore could a group of miners summon the Faith to survive over 40 days and with the help of disciplined consideration rise to the surface in Chile. A call to prayer if there ever was one!!!

However Religion is only as good as the people in it, and this is where the problem lies. To throw out the barrel of apples because of one rotten one does not make sense. You throw away the one bad apple to save the rest!!



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