Le Monde des religions no. 53 – May/June 2012 —
Today, the focus is more on the search for identity, the rediscovery of one's own cultural roots, and community solidarity. And, alas, increasingly also: on withdrawal into oneself, fear of the other, moral rigidity, and narrow dogmatism. No region of the world, no religion, escapes this vast global movement of identity and normative return. From London to Cairo, via Delhi, Houston, and Jerusalem, the trend is toward veiling or wigging for women, rigorous sermons, and the triumph of the guardians of dogma. Contrary to what I experienced in the late 1970s, young people who are still interested in religion are mostly driven less by a desire for wisdom or a quest for self than by a need for strong reference points and a desire to be rooted in the traditions of their ancestors.
Fortunately, this movement is not inevitable. It arose as an antidote to the excesses of uncontrolled globalization and the brutal individualization of our societies. It was also a reaction to a dehumanizing economic liberalism and a very rapid liberalization of morals. We are therefore witnessing a very classic swing of the pendulum. After freedom, the law. After the individual, the group. After utopian visions of change, the security of past models.
I readily acknowledge that there is something healthy in this return to identity. After an excess of libertarian and consumerist individualism, it is good to rediscover the importance of social bonds, law, and virtue. What I deplore is the overly rigid and intolerant nature of most current returns to religion. One can reintegrate into a community without lapsing into communitarianism; adhere to the age-old message of a great tradition without becoming sectarian; and aspire to lead a virtuous life without being moralistic.
Faced with these rigid attitudes, there is fortunately an antidote within religions themselves: spirituality. The more believers delve into their own traditions, the more they will discover treasures of wisdom capable of touching their hearts and opening their minds, reminding them that all human beings are brothers and sisters, and that violence and judging others are more serious sins than transgressing religious rules. The rise of religious intolerance and communalism worries me, but not religions as such, which can certainly produce the worst, but also bring about the best.