I don’t know how familiar Pope Francis is with the theories about liquid modernity expounded by the Polish sociologist Sygmunt Bauman. But several of the Pope’s homilies, particularly his recent one at the Shrine of Castelpetroso in the diocese of Molise and Abruzzo in Southern Italy explain in religious terms what Bauman says in secular terms. Pope Francis speaks of the “culture of the provisional” while Bauman writes about “liquid modernity”.
On the other hand, Bauman is very familiar with the teachings of Pope Francis and he likes what he hears and sees. So much so that during an October 2013 interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Bauman said that he is charmed and awed by Pope Francis. The sociologist believes that Francis’s pontificate gives not just the Catholic Church but the entire humanity a chance.
In his book Liquid Modernity, Bauman says that the unifying factor of the diverse aspects of modern life is “fragility, temporariness, vulnerability and inclination to constant change.” He describes this as the state of being always “post something.”
This feeling of forever becoming means, in Bauman’s words that “each new structure which replaces the previous one as soon as it is declared old-fashioned and past its use-by date is only another momentary settlement – acknowledged as temporary and ‘until further notice’.”
In such a culture, change becomes a very important value, probably the mother of all values. The implications of such a society for, for example, relationships, politics and religion are many.
Pope Francis told the 20,000 or so young people listening to him at Castelpetrose that this culture of the provisional feeds a lack of commitment and superficiality in taking responsibility. He added that contemporary society and its prevailing cultural models “do not provide a climate conducive to the formation of stable life choices with solid bonds, built on the rock of love and responsibility rather than on the sand of emotion.” As always, the images used by Francis are down to earth, hard-hitting and evocative.
Relationships are the first victims in a society built on convenience instead of conviction; the buzz of the ‘here and now’ instead of patiently working for a better tomorrow. Such a culture, says Francis, places everything in question and breaks “with relative ease” the possibility of pursuing life paths “with commitment and dedication.”
Once upon a time, to purposely use a hackneyed phrase, family therapists used to speak of the seven-year crisis in married life. This is no longer the case. Eighteen months to two years is the peak period for separations in the United States. I don’t have statistics from Malta but anecdotal evidence does not make me very optimistic that ours is a much better situation.
We see this all around us. I love you till I find someone better. Commitment is the new ‘c word’. This liquid society doesn’t teach the patience, sacrifice, mediation, and constructive efforts necessary to make commitments and relationships last. Pleasure takes precedence over happiness as pleasure is an easier target to attain than happiness. It is available immediately while one has to work hard for happiness. This culture of instant gratification does for relationships what instant coffee and fast food do for nutrition. They wreak havoc.
Religion and politics face a tough challenge in such a culture. Churches and political parties are in crisis in many countries and Malta is no exception. (Since the basic reason for the existence of both is the service of the human person, I think there is a case to be made to group them together.) The fingerprints of liquid modernity are all over Malta’s current value system and worldview. Is it possible for the Church and political parties to adapt to the current conditions without losing their soul?
We are witnessing among us how this culture of the provisional is reducing politics to mainly being the management of people’s instant needs, egoistical whims and consumerist worldviews. Politics stops being the art of the possible translation of individual anxieties and personal difficulties into democratic collective actions and worries at a political and public level.
Politicians are consequently tempted to look at citizens as consumers which pay by their votes for the parties that present the policies which are more nicely packaged and which promise instant thrills and gratifications. Cynical politicians will fall to this temptation, nay, they will make short term gains their battle cry. The cynic will just say that the most (or is it ‘the only’?) important thing is the election result. Such an attitude dehumanises us and should be resisted.
The Church has to continuously strive to find ways of creating new syntheses and adaptations for its core messages without diluting them beyond recognition. This happened many times in past epochs so there is no reason why it should not also happen this time. The penalty for getting it wrong oscillates between irrelevance and fossilisation.
As always, the images used by Francis are down to earth, hard-hitting and evocative
Striking the right balance is not easy but is a matter of survival for both the Church and political parties, or rather, humanity itself. There is hope that this can be done if one believes that human beings possess an innate desire to transcend themselves, their immediate material needs and material pleasures.
Reflecting on this innate desire Ulrich Beck, a German sociologist, writes about the birth of secular religiosity that could give full meaning to our lives while fulfilling them. Humans do not live alone or by bread alone.
Pope Francis believes that this desire can be fully realised in the development of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Christians then live this relationship in different ways within the Church and in their political commitments.
Bauman gives a secular dimension, which is also eminently Christian. He observes that the contemporary drama can be resolved with the recognition of the fact that all of us depend on each other for our present and our future; that nothing that we do or don’t do, can be indifferent to someone else’s destiny; and that none of us can try and find a private shelter from the storms that can begin in any part of the world.
Though short-termism, individualism and cynicism can strike impressive victories these are hollow victory that cannot stand the test of time. Only what truly serves the deepest needs of the human person will have a long lasting effect on politics and religion.
(The title is a line from Rent, a 1980s song by the Pet Shop Boys. It speaks about a ‘relation-ship’ with no commitment other than gratifying basic needs like paying the rent.) joseph.borg@um.edu.mt