That powerful symbol, "religion", is being put to effective use in a cultural war transforming North American society. The game of "secular humanists" is to claim that others perpetrate those narrow, divisive, irrational, faith-driven ideologies called "religions", while they alone clearsightedly embrace "reason" and "scientific" truth. Theirs is the true catholicism, that reason which should unite all humanity into a brotherhood. "We are the children!" (without a father!), sing to a world-wide audience a mixtum-gatherum of popular musicians, uniting a planet for a moment on behalf of starving Ethiopians, in a sincere catholic charity. Meanwhile "religions" divide. Hence the public schools should be "secular", and "religious" schools marginalized, or even destroyed. Unless children are subdued into a common denominator ethnic mash ripe for media manipulation, there will be ethnic war. The state-financed schools become the monopoly of the one supposed non-religion.
But the battlefield takes on a new look if "religion" (religo = I bind) means that which binds one as overarching truth, as the sense of what life is all about. Then everyone is "religious", some more thoughtfully than others perhaps, some with more liturgical cults with which to worship, while others bend down before the god Modernity at massive rock concerts. So necessarily some kinds of religion will be flourishing at all times, competing with others for allegiance.
The secular humanist world-view is necessarily a faith, for the light of human intelligence can embrace neither beginning nor end of all reality, and so all our constructions of how it stands with all of reality, not being demonstrable, are founded in acts of confidence about our vision and in witnesses to its genuineness-a faith. The self-delusion of pretending that the secularist humanist philosophy alone requires no faith, being scientific, i.e., the only one that is true, motivates them to marginalize all who do not agree with their brand, just as insecure Christians reacted to the threat of modernism by trying to control thought.
The question then becomes whether this secular humanist faith, with its belief that man, the result of blind evolution which just happened to produce him, is the highest reality, and that the sciences as pursued in the academies they control are the highest achievement of "reason" itself (another symbol they try to pre-empt), will continue the advance it has been making since the seventeenth century. Whether or not obscured by New Age symbolism and baffling ideologies of political correctness, and a rise of anti-intellectual nihilism, it will likely remain vigorous.
Can other faiths, some rooted in ancient communities, maintain themselves in the face of this dynamic rationalist catholicism?
Much suggests that secular humanism is continuing to make converts in Europe and America, not surprising given the power of secular public schools and academies, and the media and mass entertainment. World-wide, the older religions are generally stagnating, only two are reporting ever-larger numbers: Islam, due to demographics, and Christianity, the religion which, after secular humanism, and contrary to media repetition of the "empty churches" theme, is making the largest number of converts. While the Evangelicals and the Catholics grow fastest, "mainline" Protestant and Orthodox traditions are continuing to decline. Some new sects, such as the Mormons, the Unification Church (Rev. Moon), and Scientology are either growing or at least maintaining themselves.
But is there any evidence of a Christian revival strong enough to turn back some of the vast current of secular humanism? Christians hope that such a revival is coming, offsetting the masses' adjustment even to the uglier developments encouraged by elements which secular humanist faith appears unable to control: ego-centric voluntarism, hedonism (including unbridled sexuality), do-it-yourself cults, in a word, Yuppyism. Whence the carefully promoted violence, which no humanist desires?
I see little hard evidence, indeed I observe a willingness on the part of even rather thoughtful people to accept behaviour they would have considered despicable only thirty years ago, behaviour which always existed in some form but which was condemned and resisted until now by the Western tradition.
Christians do not believe that the absolutely free God owes us anything, certainly not salvation of our civilization. He has however freely promised, and clearly revealed the loving means of personal salvation, intended for all as fulfilment of the very purpose of humanity, and that the Church as transmitter of those means will survive (at least a remnant) until the end of the world. On that they hope in His name. But nowhere in Holy Scripture or tradition is hope held out for any particular culture, ethnos, or civilization.
Western civilization has generated the HTX-the "High Tech Whatever" (which is not a civilization, it is founded in no City, it is a world-wide web that is transforming society, interacting dialectically with civilizations and cultures, spawning at a terrifying rate cultures and pseudo-cultures of its own). Why think as a mass phenomenon this civilization will come to its senses, revitalize its Christian roots and thus save itself as a spiritual offshoot of Hebraeo-Greco-Roman-Christian civilization?
The Christian sees a wild card in all this: God's grace. There have been so many amazing transformations of secularist humanists into humble, prayerful, devoted Christians, the effects of the power of God working through Christianity cannot be discounted. Enormous vitality exists in the Catholic centre and the Evangelical grass-roots explosion, and a depth of, yes, reason in Catholic thought of the last hundred and fifty years to rival the best periods since the apostolic beginnings. It is as though a dozen Blaise Pascals have been released on the world at the same time. New community movements and religious orders are springing up renewing the Church. Ecumenical co-operation has exploded exponentially. These tangible fruits are not reported in the media, but they are inspiring millions, working like a mustard seed.
Thomas Langan is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.
