Pure scientific facts are indeed true whether or not you believe them. But I respectfully and thoughtfully ask those who believe science and religion truth to be mutually exclusive to seriously consider that pure religious facts are also true whether or not you believe them. Pure being the key word here. Scientists are trained to be skeptical and to test and prove all assertions before accepting them as fact. We humans are still learning new scientific facts, and just because there are some we have not yet proven does not immediately prove they are not true. Likewise, just because we do not understand all that God knows, does not immediately disprove the value of religion.
Given this backdrop, I was especially excited to watch the YouTube recording of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of The Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, speaking to Harvard Law School students this past week.
Less than a minute into his presentation, Elder Holland shared a profound quote from a 19th century cleric: “The loss of popular respect for religion is the dry rot of social institutions. The idea of God as the Creator and Father of all mankind is in the moral world, what gravitation is in the natural; it holds all together and causes them to revolve around a common center. Take this away, and men [and women] drop apart; there is no such thing as collective humanity, but only separate molecules [of men and women drifting in the universe] with no more cohesion [and no more meaning] than so many grains of sand.”[i]
Much more is available on the internet on Elder Holland's talk. I would encourage you to start by looking at
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/harvard-hosts-mormon-apostle. He does a wonderful job of explaining how Mormons are indeed Christians, that we believe that the Church that Christ personally established has been restored. Our differences with other Christians center around not believing in some of the compromises reached in the 4th and 5th centuries, when Mormons believe that core principles of the Christian Church were changed by men.
Going back to the quotation, please take a moment to seriously it. Hasn't the loss of popular respect for religion had precisely the impact on society and all of our lives that was predicted? Please take a moment to ponder that question, and then comment to share your thoughts on it with the rest of us. Thanks!
This is the quote that I got from the talk:
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the one you posted is so different?
"The loss of respect for religion is the dry rot of social institutions. The idea of God as the Creator and Father of all mankind is to the moral world what gravitation is in the natural. It holds everything else together and causes it to revolve around a common center. Take this away and any ultimate significance to life falls apart. There is then no such thing as collective humanity, but only separate molecules of men and women drifting in the universe with no more cohesion and no more meaning than so many grains of sand have meaning for the sea."
Thank you for pointing this out. I carefully wrote down what I heard, which matches what you have written. Then I found a transcript of the talk, and used the quote as it appeared in the transcript rather than type it from my notes. It looked similar, but as you point out, there are definitely differences.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing for me is the underlying point, which is the impact of the loss of respect for religion. I believe that is a valid point for people of all (or no) religious persuasions to carefully consider and discuss. Society has changed a lot as it has lost respect for religion over the years. Many of those changes have not been good.
The question/answer session after the talk is now available at:
ReplyDeletehttp://broadcast2.lds.org/newsroom/2012-03-0260-elder-holland-harvard-qanda-64k-eng.mp3
"In the western world religion has historically been the basis of civil society as
ReplyDeletewe have known it."
In the western world, for hundreds of years, the imperialism and tyranny of Christianity has wreaked havoc on countless peoples, cultures, and societies. It has grown and spread at the expense of other societies. This imperialism and hegemony itself can hardly be asserted as "moral" (unless the fundamental principle of your morality is "might makes right"). For the past two centuries, the revolutions, wars, and conflicts that have characterized world political affairs have been the fallout from this "Christian morality", resulting in racial, class, and various other clashes throughout the western world - including the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the recent violence in Ireland, and pretty much anywhere where people are fighting for freedom, they are fighting for freedom from this religiously-based hegemony!
It is both disingenuous and inaccurate for Holland to ignore this historical reality and make such an assertion without qualification, and to do so as some sort of pretended historical endorsement of religion as the ONLY basis for morality!
The fact is there are other (better?) moralities than "God-centered" morality, and there are other moralities than "monistic" (moralities with one "center" or basis) - pluralistic moralities abound, and are supplanting such moralities as Holland tries to endorse.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I agree that much evil has been done throughout human history in the name of religion and morality. To say this is very sad is a monumental understatement.
ReplyDeleteThis happens in spite of the reality of God's existence, not because of it. Each of us can choose to make the effort to know God, to ignore Him, or to make poor choices in what we claim to be His name.
Other than Jesus Christ himself, it is doubtful that anyone endured more pain in life than Moroni. He watched his entire society self destruct in war, then lived 20 more years after that without family or friends, much less any of the comforts of life. He had as much reason as anyone to deny the existence of God. At the conclusion of such a life, he left us his witness of God and a blueprint how each of us can find Him ... if we choose to. He asks us to ponder how merciful the Lord has been to each of us from the time of Adam even until our own day. He notes that if we will ask God, in the name of Christ, with a sincere heart and real intent, we can know the truth of all things.
Whether to act on this opportunity is our own individual choice. If we choose not to do so, this changes neither the reality of God, nor the peace that come from receiving this witness.
I hope you will give this a sincere and earnest try. It is life changing and affirming.