The Futility of Religion
We are all religious in one way or
another
It has often been said that man is
incurably religious. Take a look at almost any culture and you will
find pervasive religious symbols and traditions. People who say they
are not religious don’t understand themselves.
The Bible says that man was created an
immortal soul (Genesis 2:7). The quest, “Who am I?”
stems from an innate recognition that there is “something
more”. According to the Bible, we are made in God’s
image, made for relationship with Him. The quest for the Eternal is
universal. It is germane to appreciating the true meaning of life.
But that quest is not open-ended. All religions are not the same,
despite what universalists want us to believe. Truth does not fit
designer religion. We cannot create the real God in our image,
tailor-make Him to meet our personal requirements or tastes. When we
try to do so we are left with finite shapes of gold, silver, stone or
wood, impotent, devoid of life, lacking relationship, unable to
satisfy the inner hunger for relationship. Only when we give our
hearts and lives to the God-man Jesus Christ can we find enduring
satisfaction and spiritual fulfillment.
As I have traveled around the world I
have seen this reality constantly. In Thailand, Buddhists prostrate
themselves before gilt statues and paintings garlanded with flowers
and surrounded with candles and the smoke and smell of incense. In
India, the faithful kneel on mats and bow obediently towards Mecca.
Crowds of Hindu devotees follow images of Shiva and Ganesh through
dusty streets to a loud cacophony of music. Political events in
Japan are attended by Shinto ceremonies.
When people confuse religion with
the real thing
One on the most overt forms of
religious expression in the West is Easter Week, or Semana Santa, in
the southern of Spanish city of Seville where I lived for two years.
Seville has an impressive collection
of historical sights, including its Cathedral, the largest Gothic
building and third largest church, in the world. This massive
edifice took more than one hundred years to build. It was
constructed on the site of the Almohad mosque, which was demolished,
leaving no more than a minaret, built in 1198, known today as La
Giralda. Originally paved internally in such a way that the ruler
could ascend to the top and look out over his subjects, without
having to humble himself by getting off his horse, this beautiful
tower is still open to tourists. From near the summit, beneath the
huge bells that sound out all over the old city and a figure serving
as a wind vane (hence the name “Giralda, from girar,
or turn), it is possible to gaze out over the entire city and the
languid Guadalquivir River.
The interior of the cathedral contains
44 chapels, mahogany choir stalls, a stunning high altar with gold
and silver plundered from the New World (most of it brought back to
Spain through this very city), a treasury filled with gold and the
bones and other relics belonging to a number of “saints”,
priceless religious artworks, statues, icons and a tomb said to
contain the remains of Christopher Columbus’. To give the
reader a sense of the size of the church, the Seville electricity
company, Sevillana de Electricidad, installed a new lighting system
in preparation for Expo 92, costing more than one million American
dollars. The church is an impressive structure and attracts visitors
from all over the world.
The Cathedral is not just a tourist
site. It is also the centre-point of festivities during Easter Week,
as processions leave local parish churches, walk to its front door,
exit from the rear and return to their respective parishes, often
taking an entire night to do so. In the 17th century Cardinal Niño
de Guevara decreed in a rule of ordinances that the shortest possible
route should be taken. What this means, however, is that the entire
city is given over the religious processions for a full week of every
year.
Early in the 16th
century, when the Catholic Church decided to present the Passion
of Christ to the people of
Seville, many of who were uneducated, in an easily understandable
way, they commissioned huge wooden figures of Jesus, Mary and popular
saints by artists of the time. Those figures were carried in
processions by penitents parading together in and out of their major
churches as an act of devotion. The realism of this representation
proved enduring and Semana Santa celebrations became a permanent
feature of Easter in Seville, Malaga and other cities and towns
throughout Andalucia.
Today, Easter Week is the most
important and visible celebration in the entire country. Festivities
begin with the Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday) and end with Lunes de
Pascua (Easter Monday). It is a celebration of religious passion and
the whole country comes alive. Whilst Semana Santa celebrations
attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, the forms and traditions
are equally about how Spaniards demonstrate their commitment to
religion, regardless of spectators.
It is hard to describe the passion and
the mood on the streets. Everywhere, one can see enormous religious
icons and symbols of faith being carried by the faithful. In Seville
alone, there are over 100 such images, often the central figures
above altars of large churches. Semana Santa has to be experienced
first-hand to be fully appreciated and no words can adequately
describe the emotions.
On the night of Easter Thursday there
are more than a million people on the streets of the city centre
watching the processions. Some stay all night, silently observing
the passage of one image after another, at times breaking out into
passionate wails or spontaneous songs (known as saetas)
accompanied by tears.
Ahead of each procession comes a group
of Nazarenos,
in long gowns with hoods. Behind them, in silent procession, walk
hundreds of Penitents,
with crosses or candles over their shoulders, then the figures of the
Saints, mounted in structures known as “pasos”,
carried by Costaleros,
each of whom has to carry a weight of up to 100 kg. All you can see
are their shoes (or bare feet). They belong to brotherhoods based in
the local parishes. There are such brotherhoods, or Cofradias
in Seville.
The most impressive paso
is the image of the Macarena, the local Virgin Mary, accompanied by
more than 2,000 people, many in period costume, including Roman
soldiers. Crowds of people walk backwards at the same speed as the
approaching virgin, which keeps pace with the slow but steady beat of
a drum. Other band members periodically launch into strident, high
pitched music.
For the people of Seville the
appearance of “their” Virgin Mary is the climax. Members
of the adoring crowd gaze up at the face of the virgin, with
veneration and adoration. As she slowly passes, illuminated by
hundreds of candles, looking down on the crowd with humility, pathos
and holy appeal, she almost appears real. Members of the crows cast
flowers over her; others call out her name and tears flow unashamedly
down their cheeks.
Each paso
is on the streets for 14 hours; when a procession finishes (back at
the parish church where the image normally resides) and the bearers
emerge from underneath, the backs of their necks ands their shoulders
are raw and bleeding. The blood and weariness are their gift to the
Virgin, their hope of receiving some blessing for their penitence and
faithfulness.
Each city and town in Andalucia has
its own accent on the celebrations. Nevertheless, they all portray
life, colour, culture, music and dance, with deep religious meaning.
In major cities such as Malaga, the
processions go on for miles and last until the early hours of the
morning, every day through the Easter week. Children as young as 3 or
4 take part and crowds swell into hundreds of thousands.
What about Biblical faith?
Where does Biblical faith enter the
equation? The objects of devotion during Semana Santa are visible,
tangible, recognisable. Some of the images are haunting. The
essence of the event can easily be captured on film and taken home by
visitors. Here, it is possible to observe Sevillanos at worship,
without having to enter a church building. Once Semana Santa is over
and the obligations to religious process satisfied, the city prepares
to let its hair down in the annual Feria
de Abril, or April Fair,
where wine, women and song are celebrated anew. Yet, religious show
aside, there is no sense that God has been touched, that people have
even been focused on Him. The problem of man-made religion is that
the Living God is invariably left out of the picture.
The object of Biblical faith is Jesus
Christ. Anything less than relationship with Him is ineffectual.
Religion finishes the act and moves on to other things. Faith
informs and influences our entire lives, attitudes, relationships and
decisions. If God lives in a temple, a shrine, an altar or an event,
we are on our own when we turn and walk away. The event is defined
in terms of time and place. If our Christianity is to be real, it
must be capable of moving from celebration and form to the mundaneity
of the quotidian, our everyday lives and circumstances. After all,
we are not just flesh and blood entities, but shaped for eternity.