He maintains that people can do good things without a God watching over them, telling them what to do and standing over them to ensure they obey. He confidently predicted the continuing rise of secularism and atheism and the decline of religion. He’s quite dismissive of faith and people of faith, and that could unsettle us or make us angry. He even had a go at the so-called Golden Rule: Do to others as you’d have them do to you, saying that’s the last thing we should do since others probably don’t want what we want, and that we should treat people as individuals, approaching everyone differently. He says that one of the reasons atheists have become more vocal in recent years is because of 9/11 and the other acts of terrorism committed in the name of God. In short he sees religion as a negative thing that binds people up and he wants to set them free!
I actually agree with some of what he says. People without faith are capable of good thinking, and performing acts of kindness and goodness. Men have committed terrible acts in the name of God, and religion can be used to oppress people. I also think that his understanding of faith is shallow and that he has a caricatured, or twisted, view of God, His word and His people. He doesn’t understand that our faith is all about love, and that is why his confident predictions will prove to be false.
One area of misunderstanding is in conflating religion and faith (making them the same thing). Religion can be used in a positive and negative sense, so the Greeks had at least two words for it for that reason. There’s the outward observance of rules made by men and the inward respect for a higher authority that impacts the way we behave. It’s worth noting that religion is only mentioned 5 times in the New Testament and mostly in a negative sense. In River we have always acknowledged this and that is one of the reasons we are part of Pioneer, which exists to promote non-religious Christianity. We’re not interested in the outward forms of religion but want hearts to come alive with a joyful, peaceful and powerful faith in the God who is love. That is why when people, like Grayling, tell me they hate religion, I agree with them. This often confuses people, as they don’t expect a church leader to say that! And it opens a door to real discussion that would otherwise be closed.
The arguments against religion are powerful and the word is still used more often in a negative sense, so we choose to distance ourselves from it. But Pioneer also champions the cause of women, standing for their equality with men. Not making men and women the same, but recognising that women have been oppressed even until recent times. We firmly believe there is no role that a woman should be prohibited from fulfilling. The important thing is, has she been called to it? Because when God calls, He empowers. Other core values of Pioneer churches are the importance of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, and every member in ministry – each one of us uniquely called and empowered by Jesus to help build church that reflects His glory, to fulfil the great commission of making this world the love-filled planet it was created to be.
Being part of this national network means we partner with people we love and respect in bringing life, not religion, to our nation!
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