Reflection #116 (4th January 2026 at Essex Church / Kensington Unitarians)
I want to ask you a question. And I want you to ponder quietly in your heart this morning rather than answering out loud: are you religious? What do you reckon? For some of us it’s not a difficult question. For me it would be a wholehearted ‘yes’ (though I haven’t always felt that way about it). For some it may be a definite ‘no’ (I know some are very squeamish about the word). Perhaps many of us would respond ‘well, it depends what you mean by “religious”…’)
That’s precisely why I wanted to share that long piece from the essay by Jacob Rumble, and indeed the quote from Albert Schweitzer that I shared at the top of the service, to offer a view of religion that we can work with as Unitarians. They both characterise religion as primarily being about an ongoing engagement with the fundamental questions of life and how to live it (in contrast to the typically very limiting dictionary definition which states that belief in, and worship of, a supernatural being is the core of all religion).
When I studied Philosophy of Religion at Heythrop, some years ago, the very first lesson looked at that question – how do we define religion? – and on day one they made a point of impressing on us students that it’s a much more difficult thing to define than you might imagine. There’s no straightforward set of rules or characteristics that you can reliably use to determine if something counts as a religion or not. Every ‘common sense’ rule of thumb you might come up with either excludes something that you would surely want to call a religion OR includes something you wouldn’t want to call a religion. For example, if you insist that religion has to be about God, then you throw out most forms of Buddhism. And that doesn’t seem right. So if you relax that rule, and you say that religion isn’t necessarily about God, then it turns out that a lot of other collective human activities (like fanatically supporting a football team) share a lot of the same characteristics that we associate with religion – devotion, ritual, tradition, belonging – but do we want to say that to be a fanatical football fan is to be religious? Fans of Wittgenstein might recognise this as a situation where perhaps the best we can do is appeal to a certain ‘family resemblance’ and admit that it’s inevitably a bit fuzzy.
I came across another really good recent essay on this by Kwame Anthony Appiah titled ‘Undefinable yet Indispensable’ (I’ll put links to both essays in the service text on the website). He comes to a similar conclusion to Rumble: ‘Religion… shapes the inner lives of those who use it… it continues to name a space where meaning is made, defended, or denied. When it comes to what the word means, no one gets to say, and everyone gets a say… For now, [he says], religion endures as a shared act of attention: one of those serviceable maps by which we try to find our bearings, and keep faith with the world.’
I reckon Jacob Rumble is right when he says (I’m paraphrasing here) that we all have an implicit religion – a bundle of values and principles we live by, even if we don’t realise it – stuff we’ve picked up from family, or the wider culture, or our life experiences, for good or ill – and that it’s a good idea to make this more explicit, more conscious, to look at what it is that’s shaping our choices and way of being in the world – it’s good to live an examined life. And to own our own religious identity, reflect on it intentionally, rather than either unconsciously accepting or reflexively rejecting our religious inheritance. (There are some echoes here of last week’s service on ‘Roots and Wings’, I realise).
Religion is not just one thing. If we are (consciously or subconsciously) holding in our minds an image of ‘real religion’ as the version of religion that we grew up with (or perhaps the caricature of religion that we were brought up in opposition to) then it may be that we still have a bit of deprogramming or deconstruction to do in order to truly accept that it doesn’t have to be that way. We really do have religious freedom.
Religion is a powerful human invention, and as such, just like all the other human inventions, it can be used for good or ill. We don’t have to be afraid or embarrassed about it. We can shape it. It’s in our hands. It’s up to us to take hold of religion – claim it – discern, create, uphold, and embody good religion, true religion as Cliff Reed said. Of course, there are so many ways in which religion has been misused, and we do right to reject harmful beliefs and practices. But let us harness religion’s power for good.
For me, a key part of being religious, is that it’s something I can’t do alone. Think of the supposed origin of the word religious – from re-ligare – binding together. In contrast to spirituality, which is perhaps more of a private and individual endeavour, religion binds us together in community, as part of a tradition or lineage, connecting us with others who have been wrestling with the same questions of meaning and purpose, questions of how to live, for generations. And they – we – have wisdom and insight to share. I know all too well: I can’t make sense of life’s struggles all by myself – I need to draw on wisdom that’s stood the test of time – and to talk things over with comrades in the here and now. Others who are also consciously engaging with the religious questions that matter most. And let’s not forget how counter-cultural that is in these times we are living through. Religion can help us resist some of the dominant – and harmful – cultural narratives.
So if we do embrace our religious identity – individually and collectively – our job is to work out what that means to us and what sort of religious we are going to be. That’s something we’re not going to conclusively settle this morning! We’re work in progress. But to close this mini-reflection I’m going to invite you to join in with a responsive reading by Unitarian Universalist Scott Alexander which sketches out an image of the sort of religion we might need. The words are in your OOS and will appear on screen.
‘We Need a Religion That…’ by Scott Alexander (adapted)
In a world with so much hatred and violence, We need a religion that proclaims the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
In a world with so much brutality and fear, We need a religion that seeks justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
In a world with so many persons abused and neglected, We need a religion that calls us to accept one another and encourage one another to spiritual growth.
In a world with so much tyranny and oppression, We need a religion that affirms the right to freedom of thought and conscience, and the proper use of the democratic process.
In a world with so much inequity and strife, We need a religion that strives toward the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.
In a world with so much environmental degradation, We need a religion that advocates awareness and respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
In a world with so much uncertainty and despair, We need a religion that teaches our hearts to hope, and our hands to care.
In a world where so many people yearn for connection and for love, We need religious communities like ours to welcome all people of goodwill, offering a place to call home, to belong, where each can be who we truly are. Amen.
Reflection by Jane Blackall