Bishop of London: In the Spirit of Jubilee
“As we celebrate the Jubilee of our justly popular monarch, we have an opportunity to ask some wider questions in the spirit of Jubilee, to pause, look back and ask where we are as a nation, and where we are going.
“Promiscuity, separation and divorce have reached epidemic proportions in our society. Perhaps, then, we shouldn’t be surprised that depression and the prescription of anti-depressants has reached a similarly epidemic level.
“Literally millions of children grow up without knowing a stable, loving, secure family life - and that is not to count the hundreds of thousands more who don’t even make it out of the womb each year."
Bishop Richard Chartre June 2012
Comments
He employs a simple syllogism - empty churches make for an unwholesome society.
However this does make a presumption built upon the idea that higher church attendance will result in lower divorce and single parent family rates. Yet if we look to the Western nation with the highest church attendance, the USA (which averages out at 50% compared to the UK’s 8-12% (depending on where you get your stats from)) a curious anomaly can be observed. If we look at the US census stats for divorce as a map of the USA (see http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf) and then look at a map of the USA showing church attendance (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Church_or_synagogue_attendance_by_state_GFDL.svg) there is an curious overlap – the states with the highest church attendance (the Bible-Belt) correlates almost exactly with the states with the highest divorce rates; the same is true for single parent families - with one or two exceptions (see: http://s4.hubimg.com/u/4544203_f520.jpg ) and likewise for teen pregnancy (see: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/TeenPregnancy/StateInfo.html). A similar overlap occurs if we look at gun crime (http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2011/9/27/1317118921046/Gun-crime-map-of-America--007.jpg) and even for poor health (see: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Maps-and-Data/State-Data-Center/State-Scorecard.aspx).
Hence one really has to question the bishop’s wisdom here. Judging from our American cousins’ record on divorce, single parent families , teen pregnancy, poor health and violent crime (not to mention incarceration (see: http://www.prisonary.com/wiki/State_Prison_Systems_Ranked_by_Number_of_Prisoners,_2007) are all HIGHER (considerably higher) in the states where there is very high levels of church attendance (N.B. mainly Evangelical or Reformed churches in these areas); even here in Europe a country with high church attendance such as the Rep of Ireland has a comparatively low divorce rate, but a very high rate of single parents families (see: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/oneparent-families-above-eu-average-2919671.html) – now I know you don’t really believe Catholics to be Christians, but still Catholicism teaches a fairly rigid moral code and many other churches, it has not dabbled in liberalism; yet still we see a nation with massive numbers of lone parents.
I think it is necessary to ask if the cosy picture we have of ‘traditional’ family life comprising of mummy, daddy and children in holy matrimony for the vast majority of the population was in fact a social reality in the past. Certainly divorce was hard to come by in the 19th century, but high rates of morality of women in child birth, not to mention low life expectancy probably meant that the nuclear family although common, was nevertheless cheek by jowl with lots of single parents or remarried couples. In the 19th century there were also high rates of syphilis and alcoholism – again at a time of high church attendance. So again the Bishop’s picture of some halcyon past somehow destroyed because people don’t go to church is at best a half-truth and at worst a gross misrepresentation of the less wholesome truth.
Great care is needed before ‘Christianity’ is seen as the cure-all for a modern society. There is no evidence to suggest high church attendance and religious belief makes for a more wholesome society. The evidence from America and from our own past suggests the reverse!
+Richard’s words prove the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 7:10!
You might find this interesting read: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm
Tho’ given your own marital history, I’d have thought you’d have kept silent on the matter of divorce – but divorce and remarriage are so common now in our churches (or whatever hue) that I suppose even Christians feel they can comment upon it, without the danger of the charge of hypocrisy ... ;-)
"ill-disguised grab for Canterbury. Surely not!???
"empty churches make for an unwholesome society." No but where Jesus is makng a difference in someone's life - he is makng a difference in someone's life and to society!
"Great care is needed before ‘Christianity’ is seen as the cure-all for a modern society"
Christianity is indeed the cure-all, the Christian lifestyle = God's Kingdom values. Where these values are put into place, God's Kingdom will grow, where people fall short of God's values as revealed through Scripture, there is a negative effect on society! Period!
The epidemic of divorce and abortion most certainly fall short of God's glory and standard.
"given your own marital history, I’d have thought you’d have kept silent on the matter of divorce"
You either think you know me or are making assumptions about me - it would be good therefore if you reveal your true sel(f)ves.
Please note that I am no longer reading your (too often rude)comments and certainly not going to publish them.
Take care
Neil