Has Europe Really Gone Secular

By Tim Holland

It seems to me that when we look at the way the Europeans practice religion we are looking at it through a glass that may not be as clear as we think it is. This would seem to be especially true of those who would wave the flag of secularism as an example of an irreligious society filled with non-believers. Well...not so fast.

What one should understand is that secularism, as it is currently defined, is not a synonym for atheism or even agnosticism. Europe is being deemed secular based upon attendance, or the lack thereof, at Christian religious services on an average Sunday. Attendance is certainly at an all time low but does that clearly translate to a lack of a belief in God or merely a distrust in traditional beliefs in God?

There can be no argument over Europe=s success in achieving a clearly defined separation of church and state. In fact, one might claim that they have achieved the objective to which the founding fathers of the United States aspired. It was this country that demanded that religion not be in a position to control civil affairs yet Washington and company were not considered as establishing a secular society. The idea was not to establish a dictatorial society of any type be it monarchial or religious, which at the time were very close to being the same thing.

Religious leaders in Europe were well known for stepping across the line between church and state since, for all intents and purposes, the line either didn=t exist or was so faint it was difficult to distinguish where one ended and the other began. There is a long history in Europe of mistrust of religious leaders and administrators. It was not unusual for the third or fourth son to end up as part of the clergy or the military with eyes to the rank of bishop or general. Personal gain and not piety was often more of a motivating force for many religious leaders. Political leaders often sought the council and support of influential clergy in an effort to garner the support of the masses. There are those who would say that the United States is closer to a theocracy today that at any time in its history. That is surely a stretch but an interesting thought none the less.

The United States has never really had the negative experience of Europe in the religious control of the secular life of its citizens. We have been taught that it was the promise and lure of religious freedom that drew such as the pilgrims to these shores. Although, given the manner with which they seemed to have persecuted one another with witch hunts and public punishments, it is not difficult to understand why they were not exactly popular in their home countries. It is not too much of a leap to make the assumption that the puritan example of extreme religious control over the daily lives of the residents in its towns was part of the rationale for the separation of church and state philosophy that the United States developed.

My impression of Europe is that belief in God is wide, strong and personal and the public displays of religious affiliation and belief are more in disfavor than actually having been discarded. There is a definite resistance to a definitive Aright@ and Awrong@ approach to living (relativism) and the concept that one or a particular group of individuals know what is in the mind of God. People seem to be looking for spiritual guidance rather than dictatorial rules and regulations. Education is a wonderful thing and the concept of the teacher who provides intellectual challenges and leads students along a path, rather than the despot who demands allegiance, sets rules, regulations and punishments, is the preferred model. Europe has had all of that and has moved beyond the concept. If it seems that Europe, in its approach to secularism, has rejected God there may be a misreading of the spirit of the continent=s residents. The problem is that the churches of Europe have not discovered how to deal with the world as it is now evolving.

When St. Francis of Assisi was instructed to Arebuild my Church@ he made the assumption that it was the physical building that he was being asked to repair and began his ministry with that goal, much to the approval of his superiors. However, when he finally realized it was the heart and spirit of the Church he was being asked to rebuild there was immediate resistance and reluctance to change a thousand years of tradition and bureaucracy. We are now approaching a thousand years since the time of Francis and perhaps it is time for the charge he received to be reinvigorated and the secular spirit of Europe to be guided into a new reformation.