Skeptical Faith

Google Image This is a question often asked the public during presidential election campaigns. Do you think the country is better or worse off than four years ago? It’s a question you could ask about society today, given that more people, especially the millennial “nones,” (those who answer “none” when asked about their religious affiliation) are abandoning religion. Are we better or worse off without God and religion? Many people would answer “better,” believing that many of the world’s evils result from religious belief. I often recall the line in the famous John Lennon song, Imagine, which, according to Wikipedia, became “the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Lennon's solo career.” Here are some of the lyrics. Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today   Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die fo...

Google Image A young man who wanted to leave a gang came to see Gregory Boyle, S.J., founder of Homeboy Industries - a gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in Los Angeles. The man had tattoos from head to toe, including a message on his forehead in large letters that said, “F… the World.” “You know,” he said to Boyle, “I’m having a hard time finding a job.” That brought laughter to Fr. Boyle’s audience at a recent presentation at Drake University. But the young man was deadly serious, indicating the difficulty of the transition from gang member to “normal” society.  Fr. Boyle’s presentation, entitled “The Spirituality of Compassion,” was mostly about his 30-year experiment in unreserved acceptance at Homeboy Industries. The non-profit offers a variety of services to former gang members, including counseling, help with addictions, tattoo removal, and classes on job seeking. Staffed by Former Gang Members It also offers jobs at its various enterpri...

Google Image A man and woman from Washington, D.C., who quit their jobs to bike around the world, were killed in an attack in Tajikistan a few weeks ago. The couple, Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, both 29, had been on the road for just over a year. Living off their savings, they kept a frugal budget and expected to travel until the money ran out. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that ended their lives and those of two other foreign bicyclists. With all that is happening in the world – from the mess of politics to mass shootings to reports of sexual assaults by nearly everyone, it seems – it’s awfully hard to find God. Bad Joke? Doesn’t it seem, at times, that the world has become a bad joke? That nothing goes right and no one does right? I’m reminded of the Letter of Paul to the Romans in which he was in a particularly sour mood. Paraphrasing a psalm, he wrote: There is not a good man left, not one; There is not one who understands, N...

Gerald Waris Gerald Waris, my lifelong best friend, and about 34 of his cousins recently held a reunion in which participants were invited to share memories of their childhood and their long-ago interactions with their larger family. Gerald’s mother was second-generation Irish. His father was born in Lebanon and the gathering of cousins were from his side of the family. They grew up on kibbe, unleavened bread and stuffed grape leaves, and there was plenty of talk about food. But what struck me, listening to a CD of their comments, was their unanimous view on the importance of faith in their family. Gerald’s father, two brothers and a sister were partners in the wholesale fruit and vegetable business in the former market area of St. Joseph, Mo., and even there – amid haggles over the price of sweet corn and apples – were hung pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, reminding them of the relevance of their faith. One cousin talked about the woman who raised him and his five...