Where Does Our ‘Goodness’ Come From?

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A friend once told me he was raised Methodist but that the church had “very little influence” in his life.

His parents were still avid churchgoers, he said, but he lost interest and now had no religion. The man was, however, a good person, in my view, treating others with respect and promoting social justice, which is a hallmark of Methodism. In my view, the religion in which he was raised had a great influence on him, and I told him so. (He eventually became a Catholic.)

 

I also know a woman who was raised Catholic but rejected her faith and feels no sense of belonging or sense of loyalty to the church. She, too, is a good person, treating others as she would want to be treated and always interested in helping others.

 

No Influence?

Did all her pre-teen, post-teen and young adult years as a Catholic have no influence on the person she is today? She would probably not acknowledge it, but I believe that the church’s teaching about love of others had a profound effect, guiding the choices she makes and helping her form and follow her conscience.

 

These are good people. But where did their goodness come from? Yes, from parents, grandparents and others in their lives, but did their faith have nothing to do with it?

 Before going further, I need to acknowledge that people who profess no religion and people who may identify as atheist or agnostic, may also be good people. But even in their cases, when religious participation may be generations in their past, religion may unknowingly be a strong influence in their ethical decisions and their treatment of others.

The focus nowadays seems to be on the religious negatives. People accustomed to multi-million-dollar TV and movie productions that offer dazzle and exciting action are bored by religious services. Scandals about the clergy – the vast majority of whom are dedicated servants of their congregations – turn off people who were formally church-goers. People who may agree with 98 percent of a church’s positions on doctrine and practice quit their faith over one or a few doctrinal disagreements.

The popularity of religion, and religious leaders, may be at an historic low.

But I believe that if you look objectively at the history of religion –- at least in the case of Christianity and ignoring the stereotypes that are popular today - you’ll see that it has had an overwhelmingly positive influence on the lives of human beings.

News reports have recently revealed a scandal within the ranks of Southern Baptists, some of whose leaders have been accused of years of covering up sexual abuse within the ranks of the clergy. A report on the problem was released at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Sound familiar? Reports about sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy have been circulating in the media for years. The only academic study of the problem in the Catholic Church of which I’m aware was done over a decade ago at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York. It found that about 4 percent of Catholic priests have been accused of sexual abuse, about the same percentage of males in the general population.

Pretty Consistent

I assume that portion of the male population is pretty consistent among all professions and walks of life, that you would find those kinds of numbers, more or less, among lawyers, bricklayers, police officers, physicians, and clergy in all the denominations. It may have taken decades, but at least the Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic Church have acknowledged the problem and are trying to do something about it.

Yet, in the case of Catholics, sexual abuse by clergy is mentioned among the top reasons that people have left the church. The abuse is despicable, but should our faith be contingent on the behavior of others?

My point here is that instead of focusing on those who have been unable to practice what they preach, we should look at the benefits religion has provided to society for thousands of years. And all of us, believers or not, have benefited from the influence of religion in society. Billions of good people everywhere are evidence of that truth.