91Èȱ¬

From Dave Tomlinson,Ìýwriter and Vicar of St Luke’s Holloway in London:

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I don’t think it’s any surprise that the numbers of people turning out for the Pope’s visit to Ireland were decimated compared with those when John Paul II visited in 1979. It poured with rain on Sunday, that’s true; more importantly, the climate change toward religion over recent decades – not just in Ireland but across western Europe – is immense.

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And there are many reasons for this, not least the accounts of sexual abuse in the church, but in a wider sense it seems that most of us are ‘losing our religion’, at least in an institutional sense. People often ask me if I’m worried about this – if I think the church or faith has a future. Frankly, I’m not particularly bothered about the fate of organised religion. I am much more concerned about who we are as individuals and societies: how we treat one another, what sort of world we are creating.

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I reckon the word ‘Christian’ is much better thought of as a verb than a noun – as a way of being in the world instead of a badge to say we are part of a particular religious club; as a spiritual practice rather than a mere system of beliefs.

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On Sunday we had dinner with a gorgeous couple who I love and admire. Ruth comes to church, has a strong and active faith, John describes himself as an atheist. But here’s the thing: to me, it doesn’t matter: it’s who we are and how we behave in the world that counts, not the label we wear.

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I’m not saying that beliefs are unimportant; I will argue about mine till the cows come home. But the ultimate test is how those beliefs help to guide our decisions, shape our lives. And when I look at people like Ruth and John, though I recognise a different approach in each, I see the same outcome: a purposeful desire (and commitment) to live compassionately and caringly toward friends and strangers – toward the planet.

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I doubt if God cares about the future of institutional religion. But I think we should all care about the future of goodness in our world, about creating a global society where diversity of belief and practice can flourish together.