Religion. Lite.

The Dalai Lama recently spoke in Toronto on the subject of the essential agreement of all faiths on the core concepts of religious belief. He said that all religions agree on, and have at their core, the belief in the value of love as a guiding principle. They all agree that we have an obligation to do good in the world. They all agree that we must do what we can to alleviate need, deal justly, and seek peace, both politically and spiritually. Anyone who examines the documents that are considered to be holy by the various faiths cannot help but be struck by their congruence with each other. Whether one looks at the Quran, the Bible, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, or any other core document, we see the same values espoused and the same expectations of the followers of that faith. It is impossible to ignore the fact that there is a yearning within every human being for values that transcend the painful reality that life can be. As we approach the tenth anniversary of the attack by extremists on the twin towers of New York, the Pentagon, and other targets, we are very mindful that those values are often overshadowed by those who use that yearning as a justification for the worst acts of atrocity conceivable by humanity.

Whether it is the genocide of Rwanda, the Kristallnacht of the Nazis, the ethnic cleansing of the Serbs and Croats, the oppression of the Palestinians, the Crusades, or the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, every faith has had its extremists who sought to establish their interpretation of the Spirit as the “one true faith” and their tribe as superior to all the others. If we were to condemn religions on the basis of their extremist factions, we must certainly condemn all religions. The Bible says, correctly, that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. It is axiomatic that, if we go looking for the worst in people, it will not be hard to find. For, even when the extremism does not give rise to violence, it engenders such oppression, racism and hatred that the violence is still as potent but on a spiritual level.

However, it is just as certain that if you go looking for the good in people, you will find that just as quickly. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Pope John XXIII, Stephen Lewis, Lech Walesa, and the list goes on and on. Consider Izzeldin Abuelaish, (is-el-DIHN a-bu-LAISH) the Palestinian doctor whose wife and children were killed by Israeli tank shells in 2009 but who refused to be embittered by his experience and, instead, wrote the powerful book, “I Shall Not Hate”. I had the opportunity to listen to an address of his last winter in Hamilton and I could not help but be moved by his passionate, positive and life-affirming message. Following him on the dais was a Jewish heart surgeon who spoke of a program called “Save A Child’s Heart” which performs delicate heart surgery on children from some of the poorest countries in the world at the Wolfson Medical Centre in Holon, near Tel Aviv in Israel. No matter where you look in this world, you will see people who are working tirelessly for the good of humanity. Some of them do this because of their religious faith. Some do it from purely humanitarian motives. All of them are making a difference in the world. Every religion has members who would rather just sit back in the comfortable pew and pronounce judgement on the “infidels” and “heathens” who do not share their religious viewpoint, just as every religion has it’s extremists. Those who actually put into practice the values that religions espouse on paper, are the people who are being most faithful to the teachings of Jesus, of Mohammed, of the Jewish Law, of Buddha, or any of the great religious teachers and prophets the world has known.

In my own faith tradition, I read about the conflicts that Jesus had with the religious authorities of his own time, and the condemnation of their attitude of superiority and their smug self-assurance of the favoured place in God’s plan. He told the famous parable of the Good Samaritan to drive home the point that one’s righteousness was not based on doctrine or creed or heritage or ethnicity, but on the willingness of the individual to reach out in love to those in need and to give freely of oneself and one’s gifts for the good of all. I know that I can look into any other sacred writing and see similar calls to not only “talk the talk” but to “walk the walk”. Read the little book of Amos in the Hebrew writings, for instance, and hear the prophet ridicule and satirize the people who thought that their observances and their offerings were the measure of their righteousness.

That is an interesting word. Righteous. It is not, inherently, a religious term. It means to be moral and to do the right thing, whatever it may be. It is not a measure of one’s godliness, nor of one’s state of grace. It is about putting into action those beliefs that encourage people, and empower people, and uplift people. Doing the right thing is rarely easy and often dangerous. A great many people have lost their lives trying to do the right thing. More have lost their wealth. Still more have lost the respect of their peers, friends and family. It is not a pretty or nice or comfortable thing to do. Dr. Jane Philpott, a family physician from Stouffville, Ontario is the founder of an organization that encourages people to give one day’s pay to the Stephen Lewis foundation to fight HIV and A.I.D.S. in Africa. Dr. Philpott began an address to some of the community leaders of Stouffville in this simple way. “Today”, she said, “eight thousand people in Africa will die of A.I.D.S. Tomorrow, eight thousand people will die of A.I.D.S. And the next day, and the next day, and the next day. And it will keep happening until you decide to stop it.” Her message was not pretty or nice or comfortable. It was a slap in the face for some people and a wake-up call for others. People like Dr. Jane, of every religion and none, all around the world, are transforming the planet with their bravery and their dedication and their passion. They do it without judgement and without prejudice. They do not limit themselves to their group, their community, their race, their religion or their ethnicity and that is very important.

The day has long since past when we could afford to indulge ourselves in the foolishness known as “NIMBY” or “not in my back yard” for the world is our back yard and if we want it to bloom and grow and be healthy for us and for everyone, we are going to have to learn what it means to be “righteous”. We are going to have to realize that there is no wall or border or division that can effectively protect us from the world. There is no security tight enough to protect us from the threat of our own conscience. There is no guarantee of peace of mind, unless the spirit is at work in us.

Fortunately, the Spirit is at work in us. It whispers in our ear every day about what we should be doing, what we should care about, and how we should treat our neighbours. It tells us to look for truth and wisdom wherever we can find it, without regard to the creed, colour, orientation, gender, or national origin of the person speaking the truth and sharing the wisdom. As the Spirit works in us, it changes us. It modifies our internal architecture until we are no longer the people we were, but a new creation, able to see the world in all its agony and its glory, and willing to take a stand to make a difference, to tip the balance even by the tiniest amount, in favour of glory. As we change, we become a lens through which others are able to see the world in a new way, as well. Where there is despair, we have the ability to renew hope. Where there is pain, we have the ability to effect healing. Where there is conflict, we have the ability to encourage and initiate harmony and peace. Where there is doubt, we have the ability to share the things of which we are certain.

Dogmas and diatribes do not shed any light. All they can do is overshadow the truth. Wherever there is truth, there is hope. Hope that light will penetrate the darkness and allow us to see the path that leads to a better world. No matter how dim the light that we cast, no matter how small the flame of our candle, no matter how faint the illumination, letting in the light is better than stumbling around in the darkness. Again I turn to my tradition to quote from Jesus, where it says, “let your light shine before all so they may see your good works and give glory to God”. If we are going to be the kind of people I think we are meant to be, then regardless of our individual traditions, it will be important, crucial even, to use this Chinese proverb as the foundation of every righteous action we undertake to make the world a better place. “It is better to light a single candle than to stand and curse the darkness”