The Secular Society and Me

The Secular Society And Me

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Secular Society this morning. Mostly off the back of the rising insanity that comes from having a Conservative government, which is only to be expected. Thankfully, in the UK, it is only moderate insanity, and we only get things like Erik Pickles trying to make prayer before a council meeting legal, but that is actually by-the-by to what I want to think about.

The Secular society is based on the notion of non-advancement of anyone based on their faith. Or, indeed, based on any single attribute over another. It is a resounding principle, and one that I happen to hold dear. Then I realised, as one does when one wakes up with a shocking thought, that I hold the position I do *because* of my faith. Infact, I could not do that job I do if I did not have my faith. If you were not a Christian, you are positively discriminated *against*. No atheist*, could do my job, no muslim. and nor, do I think, would they want too. Of course, my job currently also discriminates against homosexuals, but we are working on that (the American Episcopal Church already has ordained partnered Bishops, and discussions are happening here, it’s just slow. It’s an old creaking institution), and we also discriminate against women in the top job of Bishop (but again, legislation is working it’s way through as we speak to fix that, too).

In a secular society, where does that leave my job? I can’t be discriminated against, because in a true secular society that would be to discriminate against my religion, but at the same time the job of the Priest (_we shall use priest, despite me not being one for the sake of argument_), which for many small communities still has some standing and respect, even if most people are atheist and never darken the door of the church. The job comes with a lot of training in all sorts of areas, many of them to do with community organisation and creation. To my mind we don’t just organise things for the faithful, but for everybody, which can be a real boon to small communities, or really, anywhere. Often times simply giving people things that they can gather at can really make a difference.

But I’m not looking to defend the job of the priest per-se. The job of the Priest will continue so long as there are Bishops to ordain. Congregations may dwindle, and Churches may close, and Christianity may look very, very different from what it does now, but the Priest remains. What I’m looking at, rather, is how does the paid position of priest measure up in the Secular World. I perceive no discrimination towards me at the moment, and I do notice that there are times when I do get special privilege, especially when in uniform. Yet there is no reason why this privilage cannot be offered to a similar community-based non-faith organisation, and I am sure that it is. Social workers, Community Builders and the like all gain access to individual areas in the way that priests do (note: You could substitute any iconic faith-based dress for Priest AFAIK, but I can only speak to what I know), but not all of them get such wide-ranging access, presumably because their job does not have such a wide-ranging remit.

This, on the face of it, seems to make things rather unequal. Privileging the priest because of their faith. However, I would argue it is more because of the job, rather than the faith. Wether or not it would be possible to create a comparable secular job I don’t know. With employee rights, and other similar concerns, as well as the need for a good work-life balence it may be difficult to do, but that does not mean it would be impossible. Though I would suggest that the time is not far off when a secular “Priest”/Chaplain is going to be seen. At the moment, a large proportion of the role of Secular Priest is being taken up by the Church, purely because there is no-one else to do it. I am aware that there are people from the humanist society that can fill the role, but they are not as prevalent as the Church. You would also have to ask how you would fund a thing.

As a small segue, as Chaplains are capable of ministring to all people, of all faiths and none, and there is a growning need for people to be able to minister to atheists, it may be possible to pay priests to fulfill this role part time. Many Priests often have their roles split, but that would require good training.

Just a few ideas on how we deal with a truly secular society in Britain and the role of a priest. Your thoughts as ever are appreciated.

~BX