Why Faith is Not Conformism

I’m a bit of a hoarder. Not in the usual sense, because I’m almost anal in keeping things neat and clean. No, I hoard books, articles and bits and pieces of each, and thanks to a computer, I can do so without anyone noticing.

Several years ago, I squirreled away quotes from Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic archbishop of Dublin, who gave an interesting and informative speech at Fordham University in 2013, mostly about the changes in religious belief and practices in Ireland. I used some of the quotes in a blog in 2018, but taking another look at my notes, I found useful ideas about the nature of faith.

Martin’s insights are relevant, specifically, to the idea among many, including many who have given up on God and/or religion, that faith means conformity to someone else’s idea of spirituality, that it involves a check on freedom, preventing us from doing what we want.

Going Beyond Oneself

In a sense, that’s true, because faith is a slap at our culture’s worship of individualism, the idea that my wants and needs are what matter. Faith requires going beyond oneself, recognizing that we’re all in this together and that the common good trumps mine.

But it isn’t a matter of conformity. What good is any human endeavor that’s simply a matter of conforming to what others think or believe? Said Archbishop Martin:

“When faith leads to conformism, it has betrayed the very nature of faith,” Martin said. “Conformism falsely feels that it has attained certainty. Faith is always a leap into the unknown and a challenge to go beyond our own limits and beyond our own certainties and the distorted understanding that comes from them.”

Czech theologian and philosopher Tomas Halik puts it this way: “Faith is the possibility of re-interpreting what seemed so cut and dried from ‘the world’s’ point of view.”

Rejection of Faith Now Conformism?

You could say, in fact, that it’s the rejection of faith – which is becoming the most popular position – that amounts to conformism.

Yes, you might respond, but if you are religious in the sense of belonging to a religion such as Christianity or Judaism, you have to conform to laws and rules that may not suit you. Take the 10 commandments, for a start.

That’s true only from the point of view of somebody who hasn’t internalized his/her faith. Once that happens, the norms of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and those of your faith tradition, become your own. Your most profound “rule” is the love of God and others and all that implies. To say that it’s imposed is to say that one’s own convictions are not his/her own. (That is possible, too, of course, when one’s convictions are superficial.)

This viewpoint implies a certain independence from any “institution.” I recognize my church’s leaders as reliable guides who deserve my respect and attention, but my faith doesn’t depend on them or anything they do or don’t do. When I think of “church,” in fact, I don’t think of bishops or priests or ministers, or any clerical bureaucracy. I think of “the people of God,” the community of believers with whom I worship and the wider universal community of believers.

I love my church and believe it’s the best path for me and many others. But I don’t believe God is contained or restrained by my brand of faith.

So if that’s the case, why be a believer or religious?

Difficult and Risky

There are many paths to belief, including intellectual and emotional ones. But it’s difficult, and risky, to travel those paths alone. Difficult, because as humans, most of us need the support of others in much of what we do. Risky, because our faith may turn out to be something we invent for our convenience, requiring few challenges and having little to do with the God who created and sustains us.  

“Many people say to me that they reject the church but still consider themselves believers in Jesus Christ,” said Archbishop Martin. “The difficulty is that in such a situation, without a personal and rigorous intellectual encounter with the Scriptures and Christian tradition, a person can drift into something that is their own, rather than a challenging encounter with their faith.”