Faith Week- What is faith about?

It is Faith Week on Publicfesto.

People come and go to talk about the religion they belong to, to express their beliefs, values and comment about some rites. As much as I find Religious Studies fascinating and I have studied religions at University, I see them through the same lens I use when studying the ancient Egypt Gods and the ancient Greek mythology. They teach me a lot about humanity, about culture, but I am not too sure that they teach me anything about God.
However, despite my total scepticism and ambivalence towards established religions, I still feel a kind of faith, I still believe that there is more to life that the pure materiality of this table or of Bill Gates’ bank account. I am part of these people who claim they are ‘spiritual but not religious’.

…Is Religion all about morality?…

Tenants of organised religions would argue to such free thinkers as myself, that there is no morality without religion. Religion provides society with a code of conduct, a set of behaviours. Hence it helps society to function in an orderly fashion. However, they are wrong, for it is perfectly possible to live a perfectly moral life without any religion. This is what philosophy and particularly ethics is all about. 

Furthermore in modern societies, morality has evolved. Religious moral has become fairly disassociated from social evolutions. Some may argue that this is a sign of how decadent we have all become. Personally, I would argue that it is immoral to force a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy, immoral to forbid women from priesthood, immoral to discriminate against gays.


…Should religion have an impact on the law of the land?

I appreciate that all religious teaching have a very constructive part. That they can embody some of our most beautiful values as a species: love, compassion, respect, humility, charity, etc. However, people who present themselves as religious often go well beyond the call of personal development. Missionary activities are paramount to all religions. In modern societies, the main goal still seems to be impacting on the law of the land.13,000 letters opposig gay marriage have been read in British Catholic churches. It also takes the form of political militantism as, for instance, very violent anti-abortion actions in the US show.

The most extreme form of religion having too much of an impact on the whole of societies conduct and laws, is found through theocraties. At that stage, it is clear that religion is no longer a tool for personal growth but has become an oppressive prison. This is why a true spiritualist will also be a secularist.


…Too many gods, too many religions?

For the sceptic, there is another problem. If there really is one or some transcendental forces, how could all religions be true at the same time and how could the rational mind know which religion is the one? Or is it that none of them is? The truth would be forever unreachable.

However, it would also be pretty reasonable to assume that each religion would have stemmed from a particular cultural heritage and would give some insights into the spiritual Truth. Therefore, trying to build bridges between beliefs, finding what may be of interest in the others, but also being ready to challenge ones beliefs, may be a path towards unity and truth. In that respect, syncretism which is the way people pick and mix religious beliefs is usually negatively seen whereas oecumenism has been positively received. 

Nowadays, our earth has been dubbed the global village because economy and politics have gone international. Some people fear globalisation and seek new ways of belonging to smaller communities. To those, strict religious boundaries may feel like a protection. Others embrace this new era and try to develop a globalised spiritual understanding and a globalised faith. This can be done through the resurgence of pagan beliefs. (to be followed)

Women and politics

We could argue a lot about where and when democracy started and we would be at loss to name the first ever male to be elected to a political office. However, we can be absolutely certain that the first woman ever elected to a national legislature in any Western democracy was Jeanette Rankin. In 1916, she was elected to the US congress. Everywhere in the world, when democratic revolutions and reforms happened, men were the first to reap the benefits. Women always had to fight very hard to get the same benefits and entitlements. Nowadays however, in all democratic countries, women have the same political rights as men have: they can vote, they can be party members, they can stand for elections.

Yet only less than 20% of world wide elected members of parliaments are female. Only two countries have at least 50% of female MPs: Rwanda and Andorra. As expected, Scandinavian countries top the OECD list with around 40% of female MPs. Germany is at 32%, France is n°36 at 26.9%, the UK is n°57 at 22.3% and the US n°79 at 16.9%.

Why are women so under-represented in politics?
Some 'Mars and Venus' theoricians may think that women are not that into politics and have other interests. However, upon closer inspection, that does not hold up to the facts. Statistics show that if you look at party membership and at grassroot involvement, women are very present at that level. Women are definitely interested in politics and into contributing to the political debate. So, why are they so few at leadership level?

There is a certain 'with the boys' culture with certain sexist codes and stereotypes that may be hard to break into. Some argue that society is not going to change easily and that the law should make it easier for women to be elected through positive discrimination and quota. Others think that those are phoney measures and that merit alone should be considered when selecting candidates. But is merit really the only factor at play?

Networking is very important if you want to have a career, particularly so in politics. It often involves going out. It requires out of business hours time. To have a high flying career in politics as well as in any other area, you need a total commitment, you need to be available nearly 24/7. It is impossible to analyse the gender imbalance in the power sphere without, at the same time, having a look at the gender imbalance in the domestic sphere. There is a persisting inequality at home. Women still do the biggest share of home chores and childcare.

Countries where the equality at home is the greatest are countries where family policies have been introduced. In Sweden for instance, families get more maternity allowance if, after the new birth, they share their maternity/paternity leave equally between the mother and the father. Childcare is also highly subsidised. When Thora Arnorsdottir ran for Iceland presidency in June 2012, her partner was looking after their new born. He was going to become a house husband had she won the election. In the meantime, one of the most powerful and respected political figure of contemporary times is Angela Merkel. And she is... ... child free.