Religion and Morality
- Man is a moral animal.
- You can make humans do anything - as long as you can convince them it's moral.
- You can convince humans that anything is moral.
—Frank Bidart, Half-Light: Collected Poems 1965-2016
In recent years, I’ve heard many Christians express concern about the religious and moral fiber of America. Most of the time, America’s religious fiber and moral fiber are treated as one and the same. The concerns that people express usually go something like this: The American public, and especially the younger generation, are increasingly areligious and anti-Christian. If this country turns away from God, then what will become of us?
Slavery
Implicit in this view is the belief that non-Christianity necessarily leads to moral decay; conversely, it claims that Christian piety equates to moral rectitude. Indeed, as Christians we believe that all good comes from God. However, does belief in God necessarily make us good people? History shows the answer is no. In fact, history tells us that the church has often used Christianity to justify the greatest errors of its time.
To take one example, today it is common sense that slavery is wrong; even during America’s age of slavery, there were many abolitionists and civil rights activists who could see this. However, in the South, the church did not. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the church used the Bible to endorse and justify slave-holding practices. As noted by the scholar Elizabeth L. Jemison, “Southern ministers had written the majority of all published defenses of slavery,” supported by a strong conviction in the “divine sanction” of the institution of slavery[1]. After all, Christian anti-abolitionists argued, in Ephesians, Paul bid slaves to obey their masters, and in Philemon, he returned a runaway slave to his master. Furthermore, slavery was common in the Roman world, but Jesus never spoke against it—so didn’t that mean that slavery had God’s approval?[1] For every Christian abolitionist whose conscience urged them to speak against this cruel and inhumane institution, there was a Christian anti-abolitionist who staunchly believed in its righteousness.
Women's Suffrage
Similarly, the church at large was in opposition to the women’s suffrage movement. Anti-suffragists were quick to point to Biblical passages such as Paul’s declaration in 1 Timothy that he would “permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man” as justification; or to the story of Genesis, saying that it was only natural to deny women political autonomy due to Eve’s sins in the Garden of Eden.[2] Even today, decades after women have been granted the right to vote, the majority of women in America belong to a religious community that prohibits them from being leaders.[3] I’ve observed that the Western Christian world is quick to denounce Islam, Judaism, and “pagan” religions as barbaric and backwards for oppressing women’s rights, but strictly speaking, many Christian denominations do the same. As Jesus said, should we not first take the plank out of our own eye before we remove the speck from our brother’s eye?
Colonialism
The history of Christianity is rife with examples of the injustices the church upheld. There is its role in justifying European colonialism, such as the Catholic Church’s papal decree in 1452 bidding King Alfonso “to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed […] and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”[4] There is its role in the genocide of Native Americans—in taking their land, in kidnapping their children, in enslaving them in missions. In more recent history, there is the fact that almost all Nazis were Christians[5], and the fact that many modern-day white supremacy groups justify themselves through the Bible too[6]. It is clear that being a Christian state did not preserve these groups’ moral characters. As such, when in pursuit of moral clarity, it is not sufficient to pursue “Christian values.” A Christian value, historically, could mean anything. But what is really the right thing to do? Could you do what you believed was right, even if your pastor, your church, and your community were all telling you that you were in the wrong?
Confronting those in Power
Maybe this challenge is too difficult for us, so let's lower the difficulty. If your pastor did something that the entire community thought was wrong, would you be able to confront him? For example: What would you do if your church leader was sexually abusing church members?
Sexual abuse in the church
It is easy to agree that sexual abuse within the church is wrong, but it seems that it is much harder to do something about it. Just two years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention—consisting of over 15 million members—was rocked by the release of a 205-page report that named hundreds of Baptist leaders and members who had been accused or found guilty of sexually abusing children. This alone was devastating enough. However, the nail in the coffin was the fact that leaders of SBC’s executive committee had focused for decades on trying to “protect the SBC from liability for abuse in local churches,” rather than prioritizing justice and healing for the victims.[7] This pattern of sexual abuse is not unique to SBC, either. A study of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in America found that some 55% of priests between 1950 and 2002 had at least one allegation of abuse.[8] Furthermore, a 2019 study by Lifeway Research found that 5% of Protestant churchgoers they surveyed had experienced sexual misconduct from a pastor, church leader, or staff member of the church; a similar number had stopped attending a church because they felt like sexual misconduct had not been taken seriously.[9] If the church is to be a moral authority, surely we can do better than an incidence rate of one in twenty.
I recently heard someone’s remark about the Christian church, which went something like this: Once you notice that there’s a new church sexual abuse scandal every week, you can’t stop noticing it. What a sad remark—and yet it has remained with me since then. In my personal experience, this maxim has been true more often than not. Every time I look up this topic on Google, it inevitably turns up at least one news article from within the past two weeks. In light of this ongoing and systematic problem, I can’t be surprised when people turn away from the church.
Does being a Christian = morally superior?
It is a misconception that Christians, churches, or nations necessarily have stronger moral characters or clearer consciences. What is even more wrong is to assume that certain beliefs must be correct just because they are "Christian." History tells us that Christians have the power to use Christianity and Christian institutions to perpetuate slavery, abuse, and genocide; therefore, we also have the potential to perpetuate horrific injustices in the same name. It would be easy to dismiss the examples I have provided by saying that those who perpetuate evil are not true Christians—but this is simply an attempt to avoid facing difficult issues. None of us are immune to social pressures, ingrained cultural biases, or the desire to believe what is easiest to believe. If so, how can you be confident that you are a "real" Christian and doing the right thing?
Where should we go next?
I can’t offer answers on how to decide what is right. I can only point to the obvious—that we should think independently, be careful of blind faith, and be wary of excessive confidence in our own correctness—and offer one last anecdote.
During Nazi Germany’s era of power, a small subset of the population chose to heed their conscience and place their moral values over their community bonds, legal protection, and physical safety. These rescuers were oftentimes Christian—just like the many Christians who helped carry out the Holocaust. This, scholar Robert P. Ericksen notes, shows that “some set of universal Christian values was not the only motivating force at play. […] [R]eligious motivation does not seem to be the most important variable in differentiating between those who did and those who did not risk their well-being to save Jews.”[10]
So, what exactly is it?
The answer, perhaps, can be found in the story of Le Chambon, a small Protestant village in France that banded together to shelter thousands of fleeing Jews. When interviewed, the individuals who participated in this rescue effort tended to explain their decisions in terms of simple humanity, rather than in terms of Christian values.
Or, in the words of the local minister’s wife, Magda Trocmé:
Those of us who received the first Jews did what we thought had to be done—nothing more complicated. […] Sometimes people ask me, ‘How did you make a decision?’
The issue was: Do you think we are all brothers or not? Do you think it is unjust to turn in the Jews or not?
Then let us try to help!”[11]
The author of this article is a writer, artist, and engineer living on the west coast of the U.S. after graduating from college, with a deep interest in language, philosophy of consciousness, and the interplay between fantasy and reality. They enjoy looking for wildlife while on walks in nature.
References:
- Jamison, Elizabeth L. "Pro-Slavery Christianity After Emancipation." May 14, 2024.https://daily.jstor.org/how-antebellum-christians-justified-slavery/.Editorial Team. "Why Did So Many Christians Support Slavery?" Christian History | Understanding the History of Christianity and the Church, January 1, 1992. https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-33/why-christians-supported-slavery.html.
- Gardner, Steve. “Church of Christ Opposition to Women’s Right to Vote: A Look Back and Echoes Today.” Authentic Theology, June 25, 2020. https://authentictheology.com/2019/06/06/church-of-christ-opposition-to-womens-right-to-vote-a-look-back-and-echoes-today/.
- 格蘭特，托賓。《大多數女性屬於禁止她們擔任領導職位的宗教社群》。宗教新聞服務，2015年7月9日。https://religionnews.com/2015/07/09/most-women-belong-to-a-religious-community-that-prohibits-them-from-being-leaders/.
- Stone, Selia. “Can Christian Ethics Be Saved? Colonialism, Racial Justice and the Task of Decolonising Christian Theology.” Sage Journals. Accessed May 14, 2024. https://journals.sagepub.com/.https://journals.sagepub.com/.
- "The German Church and the Nazi State." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, May 13, 2024.https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-german-churches-and-the-nazi-state.
- 約翰遜，達里爾。《神聖的仇恨：極右派對宗教的激進化》。南方貧困法律中心，2018年2月10日。https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2018/holy-hate-far-right%E2%80%99s-radicalization-religion.
- Helmore, Edward. “US Southern Baptist Churches Facing ‘Apocalypse’ over Sexual Abuse Scandal.” The Guardian, June 12, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/southern-baptist-church-sexual-abuse-scandal.
- Terry, Karen J. "Sexual Abuse of Minors in the Catholic Church: 2019 …" United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, May 14, 2024.https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/Nov-2019-Dr-Karen-Terry-Presentation.pdf.
- Earls, Aaron. "Churchgoers Divided on Whether Pastors Are More Likely to Commit Sexual Abuse." Lifeway Research, May 8, 2023.https://research.lifeway.com/2019/05/21/churchgoers-split-on-existence-of-more-sexual-abuse-by-pastors/.
- Ericksen, Robert P. “Christian Complicity?” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, November 8, 2007. https://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/Publication_OP_2009-11.pdf.
- “Le Chambon: A Village Takes a Stand.” Facing History & Ourselves, May 12, 2020. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/le-chambon-village-takes-stand.
Read more from Issue 76:
Resources, Support, and Cooperation
Small Loans, Big Support
I love you because God loved me first!
To Succeed, Prepare for Spiritual Warfare
How much money do I need to retire?
Making Peace with Time, Moving Forward Together
Encountering Botticelli in the Hallway
Prayers Anytime, Anywhere
Spring in the Emergency Room
Listen, the Stones Are Telling Stories…
Connecting Lives Through Biblical Stories
Connection in Him
Benefiting from AI; Glorifying God with AI
Arctos Articles Intro
Religion and Morality
The Sins of White Supremacy Culture
