{"id":974,"date":"2026-06-15T21:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revjane.co.uk\/?p=974"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:24:14","slug":"finding-our-religion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revjane.co.uk\/?p=974","title":{"rendered":"Finding Our Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Reflection #116 (4th January 2026 at Essex Church \/ Kensington Unitarians)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s not a difficult question. For me it would be a wholehearted \u2018yes\u2019 (though I haven\u2019t always felt that way about it). For some it may be a definite \u2018no\u2019 (I know some are very squeamish about the word). Perhaps many of us would respond \u2018well, it depends what you mean by \u201creligious\u201d\u2026\u2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s precisely why I wanted to share that long piece from the essay by Jacob Rumble<\/a>, 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I studied Philosophy of Religion at Heythrop, some years ago, the very first lesson looked at that question \u2013 how do we define religion? \u2013 and on day one they made a point of impressing on us students that it\u2019s a much more difficult thing to define than you might imagine. There\u2019s no straightforward set of rules or characteristics that you can reliably use to determine if something counts as a religion or not. Every \u2018common sense\u2019 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\u2019t 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\u2019t seem right. So if you relax that rule, and you say that religion isn\u2019t 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 \u2013 devotion, ritual, tradition, belonging \u2013 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 \u2018family resemblance\u2019 and admit that it\u2019s inevitably a bit fuzzy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I came across another really good recent essay on this by Kwame Anthony Appiah titled \u2018Undefinable yet Indispensable\u2019 (I\u2019ll put links to both essays in the service text on the website). He comes to a similar conclusion to Rumble: \u2018Religion\u2026 shapes the inner lives of those who use it\u2026 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\u2026 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.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I reckon Jacob Rumble is right when he says (I\u2019m paraphrasing here) that we all have an implicit religion \u2013 a bundle of values and principles we live by, even if we don\u2019t realise it \u2013 stuff we\u2019ve picked up from family, or the wider culture, or our life experiences, for good or ill \u2013 and that it\u2019s a good idea to make this more explicit, more conscious, to look at what it is that\u2019s shaping our choices and way of being in the world \u2013 it\u2019s 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\u2019s service on \u2018Roots and Wings\u2019, I realise).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion is not just one thing. If we are (consciously or subconsciously) holding in our minds an image of \u2018real religion\u2019 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\u2019t have to be that way. We really do have religious freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t have to be afraid or embarrassed about it. We can shape it. It\u2019s in our hands. It\u2019s up to us to take hold of religion \u2013 claim it \u2013 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\u2019s power for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, a key part of being religious, is that it\u2019s something I can\u2019t do alone. Think of the supposed origin of the word religious \u2013 from re-ligare \u2013 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 \u2013 we \u2013 have wisdom and insight to share. I know all too well: I can\u2019t make sense of life\u2019s struggles all by myself \u2013 I need to draw on wisdom that\u2019s stood the test of time \u2013 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\u2019s not forget how counter-cultural that is in these times we are living through. Religion can help us resist some of the dominant \u2013 and harmful \u2013 cultural narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if we do embrace our religious identity \u2013 individually and collectively \u2013 our job is to work out what that means to us and what sort of religious we are going to be. That\u2019s something we\u2019re not going to conclusively settle this morning! We\u2019re work in progress. But to close this mini-reflection I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We Need a Religion That\u2026\u2019 by Scott Alexander (adapted)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much hatred and violence,\nWe need a religion that proclaims\nthe inherent worth and dignity of every person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much brutality and fear,\nWe need a religion that seeks justice,\nequity, and compassion in human relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so many persons abused and neglected,\nWe need a religion that calls us to accept one another\nand encourage one another to spiritual growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much tyranny and oppression,\nWe need a religion that affirms the right to freedom\nof thought and conscience, and the proper use of the democratic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much inequity and strife,\nWe need a religion that strives toward the goal\nof world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much environmental degradation,\nWe need a religion that advocates awareness and respect\nfor the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world with so much uncertainty and despair,\nWe need a religion that teaches our hearts to hope, and our hands to care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a world where so many people yearn for connection and for love,\nWe need religious communities like ours to welcome all people of goodwill,\noffering a place to call home, to belong, where each can be who we truly are. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection by Jane Blackall<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n