Drop in church-going irreversible

In these secular times, there exists a growing self-awareness that the path to salvation lies within the self, rather than through proxy intervention by clerics, who by implication claim to represent God in human affairs.

This turn of attitude, where the power of reason overshadows the intangible qualities of blind faith, has replaced Church leaders as the average person's guide towards attaining higher moral ground.

The reasons for a sharp decline in church attendance in Malta as elsewhere are varied, complex, and not easily enumerated in a few words. What they hold in common is a human preponderance to question the true nature of God, our small planet's role within cosmic infinity, and the very purpose of earthly existence. Increasingly people of education are searching for clues and answers on their own terms, rather than be led by clergy burdened with quoting scriptural events and echoing rigid fundamentalist interpretations, which defy the faculty of intellectual discourse, and challenge solid scientific discoveries.

As more people become less receptive to the fire and brimstone interpretation of heaven and hell, they lose the fear of the unknown and become emboldened with a greater capacity to confront church teachings, which previously withstood challenge.

They allow that the state of experiencing paradise or hellfire, best applies to our earthly conduct. The creation of a soul is the human manifestation of timidity, an easy escape by which to neutralise our fear of the unknown, rationalise our mortality, and move our species beyond death and into a contrived state of eternity.

A secular mindset does not necessarily negate the existence of God. It instead interprets the creator as an omnipotent power which defies definition, though s/he/it is manifestly acknowledged. The image of a loving caring God possessed with human qualities is rejected. Instead tribute is accorded to a more extensive deity of creation, that has no special affinity for our tiny planet nestled in an infinite cosmos.

Our vision of God is constricted by a fundamental inability to reach out beyond flawed human intelligence, burdened as it is with a superficial ego. Relegating God with fallible human qualities is to diminish his image, and unintentionally add insult to injury. All things considered, folks can be spiritual and of sound morality without declaring religious affiliation. In this regard church attendance is of no real consequence.

The world wide drop in church attendance is irreversible. Malta is no exception. As it happens, while Europe is distancing itself from Christianity, Africa and Asia are joining the church in greater numbers. Yet the foundational ties which bind the church with western culture, are not to be diminished. The most the Church can do is to institute a plan for self-appraisal, be less dogmatic, more attentive to the changing needs of its parishioners, which could slow down but not prevent its eventual demise.

The ordination ban of women, its rigid stance against alternative lifestyles, hampers its ability to rejuvenate from within, and hastens its day of reckoning. As a last thought, clerics should sermonise less, and instead reclaim lost moral ground by refraining from questionable conduct, as recently revealed to the great dismay and pain of devout churchgoers at large.