This month's Nacht der Religionen (on 8 November) marks the seventieth anniversary of the Kristallnacht, the start of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. In the Anglican calendar that day also commemorates the saints and martyrs of England and the next day is Remembrance Sunday. This conjunction of dates might tempt people to come out with the well-worn phrase about wars being caused by religion.
It is as well to remember, however, that Kristallnacht, and most of the atrocities of the twentieth century, were perpetrated by atheistic, anti-religious régimes. All the same, whenever the subject is mentioned, it is not long before someone mentions Ireland. Yes, it is true that the history of Northern Ireland (and I write as someone who was born there) has not been edifying.
However, the truth (as another famous Irishman, Oscar Wilde, wrote) "is never pure and rarely simple". For example, after Protestant William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, the Pope did not go into mourning. Instead he had a Te Deum sung in St Peter's - a hymn of thanksgiving! The reason for this was that Catholic James was also an ally of the King of France, who was at odds with the Pope. The fact is, religious allegiance all too often gets hijacked by people who have a totally different axe to grind. These people manipulate the genuine religious feelings of others but rarely have such feelings themselves. Religious allegiance is seen as a means to an end rather than what it should be.
When we hear of bloodshed anywhere in the world, we are rightly outraged. For people of faith, our outrage is increased by our frustration that yet again something we hold dear is being misused for unworthy ends. Seeing the work of religious fanatics and fundamentalists, it seems reasonable to suppose that religious feelings should be moderated, watered down and that we should keep our religious views strictly to ourselves.
That has been the stance of most people in Europe for the past 250 years or so. It is wide of the mark, however. True religion is "to take care of widows and orphans in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world" (James, 1:27). It teaches us to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
Those are the fundamentals of religion and we could do with more of them and not less.
Peter