Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence

by Jonathan Sacks

What the secularists forgot is that Homo sapiens is the meaning-seeking animal. If there is one thing the great institutions of the modern world do not do, it is to provide meaning. Science tells us how but not why. Technology gives us power but cannot guide us as to how to use that power. The market gives us choices but leaves us uninstructed as to how to make those choices. The liberal democratic state gives us freedom to live as we choose but on principle refuses to guide us as to how to choose.

Why is the age old question. We contemplate why things work, why the sun comes up every day, and ultimately why we exist. This is the purpose of religion, and the attempt of philosophy; to answer the question of why. Science will never answer why. It is limited. We must be willing to go beyond and into a world of faith to answer the great questions of why.

All religions have had their violent moments, as have all substitutes for religion, and they have all also achieved periods of tolerance, generosity of spirit and peace.

Moral relativism is no defence whatsoever against those currently waging war against the West and its freedoms. If relativism is true, then nothing can be said truly or absolutely to be wrong.

What a bold statement! We must be cautious as to how much we are willing to step out into the world of relativism. It can be like trusting the frozen shore of the lake. The center can be very thin and it is there that danger looms even though from the shore it appears appropriate to walk across.