TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT REVISITED
Religions become universal when they speak of the human condition and the connection between us that transcends racial, national, ethnic, gender, psychosocial, and economic barriers and stereotypes. By weighing in on inequities in these matters, religions become eternal. Then they are no longer just for the time or place when they were first established, they remain relevant to people and their lives even centuries later.
It is true that most religions, much of the time, teach about a reality that lies beyond words and concepts, and from this transcendent reality they allow us to derive a lifestyle that is harmonious, peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and progressive. Most religions have also discovered that defining a precise code for micromanagement of ethical conduct where every "t" is crossed and every "i" is dotted is a minefield, invariably leading to heightened, even violent disagreement between neighbors.
I had talked about some of these matters a while ago but since then our world has changed much, as has our perspective, hence my update today.
The New York Times of February 18, 2007 featured an article that started with the August 2006 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The survey asked American churchgoers to identify issues that their clergy talked about in their sermons. What could be simpler? But many, if not most, of the topics had little to do with heaven, hell or everlasting life; in fact, they addressed matters with more immediate concerns - issues of this life, the here and now.
What type of questions claimed the focus of the clergy and religious teachers?
92% of respondents said their clergy delivered sermons on hunger and poverty, 59% spoke on abortion, Iraq rated 53%, same sex issues were the subject for 52%, the environment 48%, evolution and intelligent design drew a rating of 40% and the same number applied to the matters of the death penalty. 24% reported that stem cell research was talked about, while immigration was the subject of clerical preaching for 21% of church-going Americans. This data comes to us from a 2007 survey; surely issues of immigration and economic inequality have defined an more important niche since then; just give an ear to the current political debates.
This is a ten year old survey, and it offers quite a pot purée . The priorities and the numbers may have changed since then, particularly now that we are in the middle of a highly charged election season in the United States, but surely the general focus on contemporary issues remains. I am also fully aware that this brief summary is, at best, incomplete. It doesn't mention Jews, for example; I am sure they do not miss out on such topics and concerns. This quick recount also doesn't tell us about the variety within the Christian experience -- from the most conservative Christian fundamentalists to the most liberal humanists. But that kind of esoteric variety, important as it is, is not my focus today. What I wish to highlight is that churches are exploring issues that impact the daily lives of their flock and the structure of society.
Surely, these matters need and deserve honest exploration and an ongoing national conversation. I am also aware that such topics occupy a central defining place in the current presidential political contests in both the Democratic and Republican parties. I also clearly see that over the past six months most hopefuls in the Republican presidential campaign are focused less on constructive parsing of these and related issues and more on an abusive verbal war of words with those with whom they disagree. Perhaps time will cure them of such shenanigans and skullduggery but I am not optimistic about that.
Look again at the issues I have briefly listed. These are matters of considerable importance in today's world; many have changed over the past few years and will continue to evolve. Some of them, like stem cell research or the Iraq war, were of no concern only a few years ago, while others, like disease, hunger and poverty, have been with us forever.
Keep in mind that since they are an integral part of the greater American milieu, North American Sikhs would share the concerns of the larger society, specifically immigration and education, as well as hunger and poverty. In addition, however, as a relatively new visible minority, Sikhs would also have a stake in job rights, social and legal equality under the law, matters of interfaith relations, as well as the unfortunate sequelae of 9/11.
Even though they are not unique to Sikhs, issues such as alcoholism, female feticide and infanticide, questions of caste and clan, spousal abuse and the dowry system also demand attention. How to preserve, nurture and transmit our identity and heritage would unquestionably remain on the front burner.
How we define an equal place at the table of this society remains the very obvious central theme.
Yes, religions speak of eternal values that give us an ethical framework in which to navigate our complex lives. But to do this successfully, mundane matters of life such as those the Pew survey explored cannot be ignored or set aside. Our eternal values must engage with the everyday concerns that drive our ordinary but often desperate lives. I know that such issues evolve and mutate and our knowledge base, along with our technical skills shift and progress, while the answers to these challenges change. Surely, at times, we will make mistakes and rue the path we have chosen.
Today we are exploring some ideas that define the terms that frame the engagement between religion (faith) and life. Religions need to provide us a guiding process, not give us answers etched in stone. It is only then that religions work, as T.S. Eliot says, "to apprehend the point of intersection of the timeless with time." What we never want to do is disconnect the evergreen teachings of religious truths from our contemporary life. If that happens, religious teachings become empty rhetoric and their practices and traditions are reduced to meaningless, fossilized rituals.
But then, why is it that I have rarely, if ever, heard any conversations on most of these issues within any gurdwara? Are we Sikhs living in a different universe than everyone else?
March 22, 2016