Religious belief on the decline

Jesus described the foundations for faith as loving God and loving others. It is clear that at least one of those pillars is crumbling across the world. A recent Gallup survey found a sharp decline in belief in God in many countries, with one of the biggest declines found in Ireland.

Catholicism was once so all-pervading in Irish life that it seemed a definition of Irishness: but now, according to a survey by the pollsters Red C, the Irish are losing their faith quicker than most: seven years ago, 69% of Irish people described themselves as "religious": this has now fallen more than 20 points to 47%.

The decline in Ireland was attributed to the sexual abuse scandal by priests and greater prosperity. The publication of the Ryan Commission report in 2009 laid bare the scope of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church in Ireland. No doubt, it left a nasty taste in the mouths of the faithful, particularly since the Church did little to stop the abuse before it became public knowledge. As for prosperity, Ireland's gains were wiped out in the global recession in 2008 and yet to recover. The youth of the nation have been particularly hard hit by the recession. Perhaps the survey results should be broken down by age group since the youth were victimized by the priests and the economic collapse.

Ireland was far from alone in losing its religion. There was a 9% drop in religious belief across world between surveys in 2005 and 2012. Religiosity, at least in 2012, was inversely correlated with wealth.

RELIGIOSITY IS HIGHER AMONG THE POOR: People in bottom income groups are 17% more religious than those in top income groups. It is interesting that Religiosity declines as worldly prosperity of individuals rises. While the results for nations as a whole are mixed, individual respondents within a country show a revealing pattern. If citizens of each of the 57 countries are grouped into five groups, from the relatively poor to relatively rich in their own countries, the richer you get, the less religious you define yourself.

What was it Jesus said about worshipping God and Mammon? Perhaps the rich fall prey to the idolatry of individualism. They overlook the fact that privilege begets more privilege. Their ego starts believing that they are gods, never mind all the poor sods they trampled on the way to the top.

Political grand pundit Ross Douthat has decided that anyone deviating from religious orthodoxy is a heretic. That is odd since the dominant religion in Ireland is Roman Catholicism. So much for the intelligence of political pundits.

Perhaps the real problem is people who claim to believe in God but treat others badly. In other words, they say they love God but fail to love other people. No one can claim to understand God. God defies our senses and our comprehension. Yet no one claim not to understand the suffering of other people. We all have suffered a few slings and arrows in our lives. The suffering of others is all too visible if we are willing to open our eyes, ears, and hearts. The hypocrisy of professing faith in God while failing to love others as Jesus instructed is true heresy. And maybe that is why more people are having trouble seeing faith in God as a force for good in a crowded world.

As Christians, we are called to witness God's love. That means reflecting the love of God in how we treat others. No one will take our faith seriously otherwise.