The waning value of civil religion. . .

Besides the earth shattering win by the Labour Party in England, there is another sobering statistic.  Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, has said: “For the first time ever, the number of those affirming versus swearing an oath has come close to reflecting the beliefs of the population as a whole. We’ve known for a while that the UK is one of the least religious countries in the world. We now have one of the least religious national parliaments in the world, too.”  For those who want more, about 53 per cent of people in Britain say they belong to no religion, and 42 per cent do not believe in a god.

While the late Queen was consistent and often quite eloquent in her witness to her own faith, she was even more a reminder of the Christian and religious character of English history, values, and identity.  Her successor is less so inclined.  He would rather be the protector of all faiths than the defender of one and his own personal ambivalence to the traditional role of the monarch has only made it quite fashionable as well as safe to cast off the remains of civil religion there.  It does make you wonder what the future of all those religious national songs and hymns might be or will people sing them out of nostalgia?

The function of civil religion has been to increase that which unites a people but it has also been reflective of the values that define them.  In a culture in which diversity is promoted over unity, the need for civil religion has declined.  In the face of a society in which values are that which are in conflict, civil religion is increasingly impossible.  I do not know of any real Christian who wants Christianity to become a civil religion though I suppose there are some.  Faith becomes a legacy value, a tie to a past honored but no longer believed in or affirmed.  It is nostalgia and not confession.

Some have suggested that the final remnants of dying civil religion include the role of public prayer.  Of course, we are dutiful in our affirmation of diversity to make sure that no prayer is the final word and every deity is treated the same.  But I did notice a slight difference when an LCMS pastor prayed from our hymnal as benediction at the Republican National Convention.  Of course, he was followed by a Sikh prayer but before we get to that it was worth nothing that at the invocation of the Holy Trinity and the orthodox and typically Lutheran prayer, the presidential candidate, the vice-presidential candidate, and, from what I could see, most of the arena had heads bowed in the obvious posture of prayer.  Not so for the Sikh prayer.  Could it be that we are missing civil religion a bit more than we once thought possible?  Could it be that prayer itself, especially one with clear and identifiable Christian and Trinitarian identity is still an object of respect in our diverse and more secular age?

This was an extraordinary moment.  A past president seeking to return to office who was only days before in the cross hairs of a would be assassin.  A nation now somewhat soberly reminded that diversity and division are not without some cost and liabilities.  I am rightfully wary of any civil religion -- especially one that is a pale and impotent imitation of a real and true faith.  Yet, I would like to think that every now and then people remember why faith is important and why the orthodox and catholic faith just might be worth a second look.  At least I can hope so.  In the meantime, I will take comfort that we are not quite where our friends across the pond are in our willingness to cast aside the remnants of a one rather profound faith and religious identity.  At least not yet.