Something to believe in

"They came from miles around to worship every Sunday and rejoiced at the wonder of 3 for 2 and 50% off. Filling aisle after aisle in praise as they turned to page 243 of the holy summer catalogue with the blessed store manager on the public announcement system proclaiming where the latest divine price cut could be found in this sacred place"

What is the purpose of the above paragraph? It might sound on first reading like an extract from a trashy novel or some sort of alternative advertising campaign. Both of these are wrong. Its purpose is to show that if a society rids itself of religious belief completely it is left with people who believe in very little at all. Not that this opinion is held to be popular with UK society as a whole in 21st century Britain

Since I have spent most of my life outside the majority, I always like to argue against the popular opinions of the day wherever possible. This is not just to be controversial but because I believe many of the concepts we take as fact in the 21st century can be construed as misguided at best and plain wrong at worst. One of these is the rise of atheism and with it the degrading of the Christian culture and religious belief within the UK.

If you get rid of a cultural aspect within a country then a gap is left and something will always come to fill it. This is modernisation. So if religion, through a factual certainty based on atheism, is to be purged what replaces it? Two theories spring to mind both of which are on the increase in modern society. One refers back to the quote at the top of the page and can be seen as increased consumerism and materialism in our modern age. You only need to go to any out of town superstore on a weekend to see the car parks full of people flocking in to try and buy things on the cheap which is what generally these stores offer. There is nothing wrong with this idea in a free society but it's beyond argument to recognise that the less people hold religious belief the more they adhere to a life dedicated, perhaps subconsciously, but dedicated none the less to the collection of material goods. By material goods I don't just mean essential things needed to live but luxuries which most of the time people go to these sorts of places to buy. A significant proportion of these luxuries actually replace other luxuries that people own. As a believer in the free market this in the correct context is not a problem but with religious belief in place, it acts as a strong counter balance in place based on a sense of duty to do something as a person that goes beyond the belief in the collection of goods for oneself and to help the wider community and world.

The other area that in my opinion grows in secular societies is addictions. This can be to alcohol, drugs or gambling amongst other things. How does this develop from the lack of religious faith? Mainly, because an addiction traps the user into a routine. This can be drinking daily or meeting regularly with a drug dealer. This routine is a cancerous one which is incredibly difficult to get out of. Religion provides a solid counterbalance to this. It too provides a routine of regular worship, attendance and most importantly belief. Often this belief rejects outright consumption of substances like drink and drugs in the first place and even when it doesn't it offers support networks for those who do find themselves trapped in the menace of addiction. Away from government, religious groups do provide this sort of social safety net but if you reject religion then you ignore the great public service many of these groups do not just in the sense of social protection but in areas such as public education.

The main rejection of religion seems to be on the idea of control. Of course principles are contained within it but it is never compulsory. The bad side effects of it come from the abuse of it by people. They abuse religion and not the other way around. This is either for profit (perhaps related to the idea of material gain discussed elsewhere in this post) or violence, for example cult Islamic fascism that we see today. Religious texts do never condone some of the shameful behaviour that goes on by people acting under the name of religion from pedophile priests to gross material gain for themselves and nobody else. People who support the separation of church and state miss the point. It's not that religion needs to get out of politics but that politics has become too involved in religion.

Whilst I don’t believe that to be a good person you have to be religious a theoretical argument shows that a religious background provides a stronger argument. This is because a religious person would see the earth as a mere test for the next world where their behaviour is to be judged to see if they are fit to have a prosperous afterlife. This is where the idea of conscience develops from as a belief that there is a presence beyond us which can evaluate what we do whilst those who purely believe in a secular system will realise that only they will know all of their own actions.

In conclusion, any society is a combination of freedom and duty to others. I always support a free market and a free people. There are two ways to balance this through some sense of social justice. One is government and the other is religion. As a conservative who believes in small government religion appears to be the most sensible option as it’s based in individual conscience. The idea each individual questions what they do rather than having someone else doing that for them. Take that away and all that is left is the market and government as well as an unfulfilled and broken society.