Extreme.

The transition from life in England to life in Rome, although it has been easier than I would have imagined, has revealed to me many different view points on religion, some for better and some for worse.

In England there is a phenomenon which I like to call ‘extreme secularism’. I became very aware of it as an RE teacher, before coming to seminary. It is a complete closing of the mind to all things spiritual and even a view of religion as a relic of the past that can be of no relevance to our lives in the 22nd century. It can be seen through the parent who asks, ‘why does their child learn RE’? or says, ‘s/he was hoping to drop RE to focus on something else.’ They do not see the relevance or value of RE set within the context of our increasingly pluralistic society or the fact that the world is effectively shrinking in the sense that we are becoming a ‘global village’ evermore aware of the conflicts caused by extremism of one kind or another.

People can be so convinced that their ideology or way of thinking is correct that, in the worst case scenario they are willing to harm or take human life in the name of their beliefs, or in another, perhaps more reflective scenario, they may look down their noses at people who have differing views from them. Fortunately this does not seem to be the case with the vast majority of people I know. Most are indifferent to what religion people belong to, but judge them by their actions and nature – if you are basically a nice genuine person then what does it matter.

The more time I spend at seminary and become increasingly aware of diversity of belief through philosophy and the alternative spiritual literature I am reading, the more I am becoming aware that it does not really mater what you believe but how your beliefs (whether they be religious or secular) inform the way you live and treat others. Maybe religious indifference is the best way to be? It is certainly better than extremism or intolerance of other view points. Something that explains this much better than I can is a poem I used to have on my classroom wall:

“So many paths and so many creeds,
and so many roads that wind and wind.

When just the art of being kind,
is that this world needs.” (Anonymous)