Brad Chilcott - The global crisis hammers home this truth: people matter more than religion

By Dilip -
Ideologies and institutions that do not retain the wellbeing of others as their driving principle will always end up harming people and eroding the common good.
Paedophile priests blaming children for their own abuse. Others promising to honour the seal of confession over protection of the innocent. Churches of all traditions avoiding scandal rather than shielding children from predators. These are juxtaposed uncomfortably against the central image of Easter: Jesus hanging naked beside criminals, willingly bearing the scandal of the cross, sacrificing his reputation in solidarity with all who suffer at the will of the powerful and self-interested.

The narratives of Jesus in Christian scripture describe an attempt to remind us that it is love of people that really matters. But around this idea humanity built a religion and made that religion matter more than people. We’ve seen this in the response to the Covid-19 crisis: pastors in the United States determined to gather in crowds on Sundays at risk of arrest; churches in Australia going to the very limits of government advice, operating as though participation in the rituals of religion are its purpose instead of adaptable tools designed to mobilise followers towards the renewal of a world ravaged by greed and systemic injustice.

This trajectory isn’t unique to religion. Political movements, social theories and economic philosophies across the ideological spectrum are guilty of falling into a similar trap....
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/12/the-global-crisis-hammers-home-this-truth-people-matter-more-than-religion

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