Pope John Paul II and the functionalist definition of religion

Yesterday after Mass I spent a while talking to the piano player. He just graduated from high school (Marist) and he's heading off to school this week at Wheaton College in Illinois. For anyone who doesn't know, that's a private Christian college, and he's majoring in Biblical and Theological studies.

One of the ongoing discussions we've had is about some statements made about Islam by the late Pope John Paul II. The Pope gave speeches that emphasized the similarities between Christianity and Islam, that Christians and Muslims alike worship the same God, the God of Abraham, and so on. Brantly's concern with this is that the Pope asserted that the plan of salvation includes those who worship the same God. Based purely on Christian theology, the only way to achieve salvation is through faith that Jesus Christ repaid the debt of sin through his death on the cross. This, of course, leaves anyone out who does not believe in Christ.

The discussion left me thinking about what choices we make in terms of what ethos to follow. Everyone chooses, regardless of whether you choose a particular religion, choose parts of religions and put them together for yourself, or choose not to follow a particular religion. What are the benefits? For someone who chooses religion, it's usually from a desire to be part of something more important than yourself, or perhaps it's based on the theorem from Descartes, I think it was, that if you don't believe and you're wrong, too bad for you, but if you do believe, then you're set either way. Of course, now you have to choose which religion is right, not merely whether to believe in a religion, and then you're faced with the daunting prospect of choosing which version of your chosen faith to which you desire to ascribe.

I don't remember who coined the term "functional definition of religion" but it was probably one of those behavioralist anthropologists. Religion performs many useful functions within society, from providing personal comfort and stability in one's own life, to inspiring people to do good works for other people, such as church-based or church-sponsored charity organizations. That's part of the reason I like the Catholic Church so much - there is a clear commitment to helping others, something I think is missing from many other parts of life based on selfish ambitions and desires.

Perhaps the most important issue is not that one believes one is right, because after all, if you're going to do something, it's generally because you think you're right to do so. Perhaps the more important thing is to follow in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II and emphasize those similarities and ties that we share. Perhaps then, with a lot of work to improve the infrastructure in poor Muslim countries, there will be fewer young people growing up with a virulent hatred of all things American, Christian, or Jewish.