When George Michael sang 'Faith', he was not expressing his religion but his desire. But can you take religion out of desire? We desire contact with what we hold to be sacred but can you get too much faith? Can religion turn into an addiction or obsession? Even a glorious obsession?
On the Hillsong TV show on Channel 10 in April, Pastor Brian Houston questioned the compulsion or obsession some people have towards their religious worship. He called this a 'glorious obsession'. To provide context for his view, Houston asked the following questions: ' What is it that gets you up in the morning? What are you passionate about? Do you live your life out of obligation and requirement? Or do you live it with a passion - where it's not a have-to, it's a want-to? Is there something that stirs you to make a difference? Have you got a glorious obsession?' (Houston 2012)
This led me to contemplate the glory in the work people do in acting for change, and to ask why is it that they want to make a difference? Houston repeats the idea that a richer [religious] life is not necessarily experienced by a requirement to fulfil one's obligations, but by one's passions and even one's 'glorious obsessions'. But I would question the distinction between obligation and passion, and ask - is there a requirement or an obligation, even a passionate obsession within religion to care for others, where others are not only other people, but also animals and the natural environment?
My observation in this Western society is that such a responsibility seems to be negotiable - that the idea of acting for the common wealth or communal good seems submerged within a material (or materialist) culture. But there are pockets and places of sacred action and passionate and communal faith in many people's responsibility for others as well as for creation care, For religionists and secularists alike, caring for the environment and for social justice becomes a passion for their lives and/or their lived religious expression. While some might argue it is a calling, or even a compulsion to act for others, it is a calling they have taken up with joy.
Such passion to action can emerge when problems or disasters occur in a community. For instance, it overflowed in the outpouring of civic action in the 'Mud Army' during Brisbane's floods in January 2011.
In the aftermath of the deluge, thousands of Brisbane residents flocked to help people clean up their homes. Religious organisations played a significant role, as right across the city and suburbs, religious leaders from all faiths dispensed solace and care, food parcels, clothes and furniture, and conducted liturgy and memorial rituals. It was 'all hands on deck' as far as the religious leaders were concerned. Some shut down their regular religious services and joined the work of the mud army.
The mud army was an inspiration. It spread like Durkheim's collective effervescence across the river valley. It was an example of people being driven by a sense of communal commitment and responsibilty. It was an act of selfless service and mindful engagement that cut across religious and cultural differences. It was an act of generosity that stirred and linked the community in one common goal.
The action of residents was, to use a more American religion theoretical perspective, an act of 'civic' or 'civil religion', which Nancy Ammerman (2009:50) refers to 'at its most basic, ..[is]. about what it means to be a citizen'. She adds that the religious heritage of a nation, 'is part of its strength'. Non-Indigenous Australian culture was created on what has been termed 'the pioneering spirit' - could that be part of our religious heritage in more of a secular frame? Was the work of the mud army already enshrined in Australia's cultural heritage, or is that thought way too jingoistic? People helped because of their felt need to work for the common good.
Ammerman observes that 'diverse faith communities will bring people together around diverse public causes' (60). Qualities of compassion and altruism, religiously-inspired or not, were embedded in the spirit of the volunteers who turned out to clean up. While they may not have joined the mud army out of an obsession, what they did was certainly glorious.
Questions
- What limits people to act on behalf of others, and what encourages them to do so?
- Is there a religious obligation to care for others, including care for the environment and creation?
- Religion's has concisely been engaged in social justice activism; it is a major function of religion. Is it a glorious obsession? 'Is there something that stirs you to make a difference? Have you got a glorious obsession?'
Reference
Ammerman, N. 2009. Building religious communities, building the common good. A skeptical appreciation. In P. Lichterman and C. Brady Potts, eds., The civic life of American religion, 48-68. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Houston B. 2012. A glorious obsession, part 2, Lightsource.com, http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/hillsong-tv/a-glorious-obsession-part-1-253899.html
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