A call for genuine faith

Amid the ongoing appeals for the influence of the Church here in Malta to be lessened, I cannot but wonder, as a partial “onlooker”, how far the proponents of change appreciate what a priceless heritage (virtually unique now in Europe) this country has.

Many countries – including my own, the UK – would envy the extent to which Maltese society is still reinforced by Christian values, has so little crime, excels in humanitarian aid, upholds the sanctity of human and family life, offers most of its children a decent moral and spiritual framework around which to construct their lives, and (for me, a special treat!) enjoys largely shopping-free Sundays.

In what ways, precisely, do the detractors envisage Malta would benefit if it were to become less Christian? As I see it, problems arise not when faith is too strong (and by that I mean wholly authentic, not fanatical or extreme) but when it becomes weak and ineffectual.

I was in the UK this summer at the time when large groups of young people in parts of London and other English cities erupted on to the streets in a frenzy of destruction to property, causing widespread injuries to innocent people including the police, and even, tragically, a number of deaths. It was dreadful to see the distress of the injured and bereaved, the shock and bewilderment of those whose shops and businesses had been ransacked, as well as to watch the personal integrity of children so young being wholly dismantled.

Britain has experienced riots before, ostensibly with some political cause, but this mindless violence was something new. Poverty, unemployment, and single-parenting were all suggested as causes but, however much these may have contributed in some cases, the fact remains that among the rioters there had been those with good jobs and from stable family backgrounds. Indeed, in a programme in which some of the young people were asked why they had taken part in the riots, their answers were revealing: “We chose to do it... It was nothing to do with our parents... They are not to blame… It gave us power… Excitement… My parents are strict, but times are different now…”.

It is tempting and perhaps reasonable to think that such a phenomenon as the UK riots could never happen in Malta; till now we thought it could never happen in the UK. When one has always lived in a country where the Christian faith has predominated and influenced much of family, social and political life, it is easy to start taking such shared values for granted and to feel one can do without the spiritual source from which they spring.

In Britain over the last few decades, in the name of political correctness, other religions have been allowed to flourish, there has been a gradual, widespread influx of materialism and Christianity – the faith that informed our laws and way of life for centuries – has become marginalised. Instead of the utopian brotherhood that all this “tolerance” is supposed to produce, there has developed a spiritual vacuum devoid of moral certainties.

I believe it is no mere coincidence that the society in which they have been growing up has, by example or implication, been teaching those youngsters that the most important thing in life is to try to make money, that happiness is to be found chiefly in doing what you like and getting what you want and that there is no authority to whom you are accountable beyond yourself, not even God; in fact, especially not God! A case of “sow the wind, and you reap the whirlwind”?

The world’s leaders, facing today’s problems, cannot answer the need of the human heart for a sense of meaning in life on this otherwise aimlessly spinning planet. The Church (and as a Christian who is not a Catholic I refer to the whole spectrum of Christendom) always has been and always will be in need both of humble repentance for its failings and of continual rejuvenation if it is to communicate the Gospel effectively to its present generation, nevertheless the principles it enshrines, the Saviour it represents and the life-transforming relationship that He offers, are matchless and unchanging. As long as Christ Himself remains the focus, and Christlike love alone fuels all His Church’s endeavours, let there be in this unstable world not an eclipse of faith but its renaissance.