Far From Zion

On Communities of faith, with or without God

An interesting piece in the New York Times about Greg Epstein, the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard, and his efforts to create “local humanist centers nationwide that perform many of the community-building functions of a church, only in service of the humanist creed.” It is interesting to see a movement that borrows the language and structures of religious organization, based around humanist principles, though it strikes me that secular Jews have been doing that for ages (and Epstein is ordained by one such organization). His idea strips away the ethnic dimension and creates a kind of Big-Tent community for anyone who longs for the kind of value-added experience that commitment to faith-community provides. I do wonder how this movement can sustain itself, of course, as many deeply ethical humanists are already committed to mission-driven organizations like Human Rights Watch or Green for All or GLSEN or whatever other causes drive them. Will they want a catch-all kind of center that Epstein offers? Will they want to affiliate in the same way the Jewish organizations have long asked people to affilate (and have been steadily losing membership over the years). Are those drawn to Epstein’s movement simply spiritual Seekers, wandering between vague interpretations of ancient faiths, who are now looking for new avenues (in this case, faith in human reason), and is there anything wrong with that?

I think Epstein’s idea is a good one. The world can always use more communities bound to each other and their neighbors by mutual concern and care, though its success (and the recent American Religious Identification Survey that shows a decline in religious identification among Americans) says more about the kind of answers and services organized religion is providing than it does about the people who it studies. Most of us are spiritual seekers in one way or another, and Epstein is helping to build another path for those who want it. Fiercly individualist humanists will, of course, shun his religious influenced language and the structures he is borrowing from religious (and community-based) organizations, but for some, his ideas might just be a path to service and to a more fulfilling life. God is not necessary for a community, nor is religious faith, though I believe both those things do go a long way to build and strengthen communities (for good or ill). I hope this movement succeeds though, because the combined force of those who do “good without God” and those who find their path through religous tradition, could just create a more just, and equitable world. And isn’t that the point?