Is God Back?

Last week I was privileged to contribute to an excellent debate hosted by the British Council, in which John Micklethwait, Editor in Chief of The Economist, was quizzed by John Worne, The Council’s Director of Strategy, about some of the thinking underpinning his new book ‘God Is Back.’

This encounter prompted me to thinking around this whole issue. If 'God is Back', where has he been? Is he, as the British Boy/Man band 'Take That' have it, 'Back for Good' or is he like Sinatra, on one of a number of comebacks, that is to say,- is there a cyclical component to the rise and fall of religion as a dominant force in social, civic, political and cultural life?

I was very interested in the make up of the audience for the debate, who seemed to be fairly evenly split on the issue of secularism or religion as the rising star in our 21st century firmament. It is fair to say that, broadly speaking, religionists and people of faith have a tendency to believe that 'God made Man', whereas secularists and others on that wing, have a tendency to believe that 'Man made God'. If this is true, why did Man feel the need to 'make God"? Was it to fulfill some innate desire to have something to believe in, to make sense of our world,- or was it perhaps to have something to blame when the crops failed, or maybe a bit of both? I am intrigued.

In the UK in particular, we have seen significant shifts in the demographics and spread of our religious communities. What effect has the decline in the UK of traditional Anglo-Catholic forms of Christian worship, and the parallel rise of evangelical Christianity, along with the increase in other faiths, had on the daily life of the UK? I think this may be worth exploring.

I found myself, as I listened intently to contributors to the debate, whether there might be such a thing as extreme secularism, and if so, how might it be manifest? We have seen an increase in the secular lobby of recent times, perhaps as a response to the rise of religion in public profile. If religion, is as Marx has said, 'the opium of the people' is secularism, perhaps the latest designer drug, or is it here to stay? Have we seen a genuine mature debate about the role of secularism and faith in society? I don’t yet think so.

In the US, I think things have been shaping up rather differently. Pollsters and political kingmakers such as Karl Rove, the 'eminence gris' behind George Bush's political successes, has been adept at 'micro-polling' communities, and targeting them, based upon religious affiliation and belief. How long if ever, before this becomes a significant reality in the UK? It seems interesting that Alastair Campbell famously said on behalf of Tony Blair, "We don't do God" at the same time as George Bush was claiming divine intervention in his political motivations. Immediately after stepping down from public office, TB set up his Faith Foundation, with a speech in New York, and a speech at the Catholic Westminster Cathedral. Why do you think that religion and politics so often make such awkward bedfellows in some territories, and natural allies in others.


Given that religion, faith or belief are such important drivers in the lives of billions of people, one wonders why bodies such as the World Congress of Faiths, or the Council For A Parliament of the World's Religions are so little known, and perhaps lacking in influence, compared to say, the UN, EU, NATO or the WHO or the various Commonwealth Institutions?

So What, Who Cares? Says Who? Perhaps on this topic we all need to think more carefully. The more people move, migrate and settle in new places, the more the debate around secularism and religion will be pertinent.
Mike Waldron
Inter-pares