I was shocked out of my gourd (plentiful this time of year—I mean both the shocks and the gourds) when I read this number two editorial in the Vancouver Sun (it’s an Ottawa Citizen editorial, actually) yesterday.
I made reference to the study they’re discussing in a J-Lines quip, last week. I wrote:
• Survey says…. “Social virtues linked to faith – Decline in religion may bring decline in civility, study warns”. … Like that hasn’t happened already. (And like we needed a study to tell us this). Quote from study: “To the extent that Canadians are saying good-bye to God, we may find that we pay a significant social price.” … What theses people don’t “get” is that this is precisely the desired effect, amongst liberals and atheists. We may need a study to find out at what point Canadians clue in.
Here’s the latent thoughts from the Ottawa Citizen editorial board (clearly not as quick-thinking or as fun as me). And note that “latent” is a key, well-chosen word in this case.:
Society pays a steep price for travelling blind morally
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007The data are clear: Canadians are losing interest in organized religion. What’s not so clear is whether our diminishing religiosity is something to worry about.
Many respectable people suggest that it is not. They sometimes even point to scandals of one kind or another and argue that organized religion has done more harm than good.
Reginald Bibby, though, begs to differ, and he’s someone worth listening to. The University of Lethbridge professor is one of the country’s leading scholars on the role of religion in society, and his research suggests that declining religious affiliation could be accompanied by a decline in civility.
Clergy and theologians have long argued something similar, namely, that without formal religion it is hard for society to maintain and perpetrate ethical behaviour. Of course, clergy are not the most objective analysts in these matters. Bibby, however, speaks as an academic.
In a recent study, Bibby set out to measure the importance that Canadians attach to values such as forgiveness, politeness, patience and generosity. He discovered that religious people are more “attached” to these values, sometimes considerably more, than are non-religious people.
These are the values that in many ways serve as a kind of moral roadmap, guiding how we interact with one another. Bibby’s research suggests that as religiosity declines, we start to travel blind—and society pays a price. Religious affiliation, apparently, has a civilizing function. We become socialized at church. The fear, then, is that as we separate ourselves from these institutions, social harmony could suffer.
True, socialization has a price. It requires individuals to surrender some personal freedom, to recognize that we have social obligations. But this is the price of belonging to a community. Now it’s also true that, these days, you can create communities without churches. Communities—and thus community values—can revolve around a variety of organizations and institutions. The family, for example, plays a central role in preserving and reproducing what academics might call pro-social behaviour.
So churches, synagogues, temples and other religious institutions are not the sole source of moral instruction. Yet Bibby and other sociologists raise a legitimate alarm. Not only is church affiliation slipping, but the family also is fragmenting. Other institutions such as schools, which play an important role in socializing children, are struggling under burdens of their own. The very way we live—urban sprawl being exhibit A—hinders the formation of strong communities of shared values.
Commenting on this general fragmentation, the American sociologist Robert Putnam writes that “social isolation has many well-documented side effects. Kids fail to thrive. Crime rises. Politics coarsens. Generosity shrivels. Death comes sooner (social isolation is as big a risk factor for premature death as smoking). Well-connected people live longer, happier lives.”
Recognize any of the above? Atheists, cynics and secular humanists can and do live moral lives, and that’s fine. But it’s hard not to see in the erosion of religious commitment something depressing, if not ominous.
If they really feel this way, why does the liberal media in Canada and the U.S. constantly bash and demean Christianity and promote its demise in favor of the liberals’ secular progressive agenda? Why do they not defend it? Promote it? I’ll tell you why: Because they long ago made the editorial decision to be “trendy”. Politically correct. Placatory; and obsequious to seemingly fashionable liberal-left. “Progressive”, as they cutely call it these days. They are in fact founders of the movement. They share the blame for the error of their ways.
Now: Manifestly they’re yella.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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