Another Awakening?

 

Our Great Republic has, from time to time, been subject to what have been called "Awakenings."  These are episodes of typically Protestant Christian revivals during which people enthusiastically proclaim their faith and strive mightily to live by it, and to cause others to do so as well.  America has been more prone to showy evangelism than Europe, which has been relatively free from fundamentalist frenzy since the Renaissance.

There have been three of these "Great Awakenings."  They took place from the late 18th to the early 20th century.  It's claimed there was a fourth that took place in the 1960s and 1970s during the days of the Jesus Freaks, but there's no consensus on this claim.

It seems that some believe another Great Awakening is taking place.  This one, though, may not be wholly Protestant. The so-called "Catholic Woodstock" in which hundreds of thousands of young people celebrated in Rome in Jubilee style with the Pontifex Maximus is cited in support of this belief.

It's interesting to speculate regarding the causes of these events.  It strikes me that Christianity isn't a religion that celebrates humanity or the way we live our lives.  In fact, it denigrates us.  This may the result of Augustine's charming doctrine of Original Sin, according to which we're sinful and indeed on the highway to hell from birth, if not conception, all due to Adam and Eve, who made the mistake of seeking knowledge.  According to Augustinian Christianity (Pauline as well, I think) we're to burn in hellfire unless we're saved, and saving is a matter of God's grace which is, like all other things, in his discretion, regardless of our merits and good works.  It was on this basis that the Bishop of Hippo maintained that even the great pagan philosophers and moral figures were condemned, because they did not know Christ.  They were long dead before Jesus is said to have lived, but apparently they should have been aware of Jesus and his mission nonetheless.

For believers, then, as they are induced if not compelled to think that eternal torment awaits them unless they "awaken," it's hardly surprising that they'll be eager to "awaken" when the opportunity arises.  They'll be especially eager if they have in fact been sinful not merely by association, as it were, being the spawn of Adam and Eve, but sinful by their own word, thought and deed.  Most of them have sinned as that conduct is described by Christianity, and the desperate hope they will be saved is likely to have motivated Great Awakenings in the past.

I think that the sins of others or the perception that others have sinned also contribute to these awakenings.  The sinful conduct of others has always fascinated and ideed delighted faithful Christians, who look forward to watching their neighbors roast while they sit in heaven, cherished by God.  But more than that, it seems a maxim of evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity that God in his wisdom will punish humanity at large for sinful behavior.  God has famously done so by flood, but will also hurl hurricanes and tornados, incite wars, spread deadly disease, cause famine, and inflict other horrors on us all should people engage in homosexuality, for example, or legalize abortion.

It happens that there is every reason to think our society is corrupt and immoral if the conduct of our leaders, and the wealthy and the powerful of our time is any indication of our state of sinfulness.  It wouldn't surprise me if people, and particularly young people, look at the world and perceive it to be depraved, cruel and where politicians are concerned incredibly venal.  As a consequence they search for something or someone moral and admirable, which will save the world from the selfish and hateful people which dominate it.

It's unfortunate, however, that the awakening that's sought and takes place is to a system of belief which is exclusive and intolerant.  It admits of only one faith, one way of living, one way of thinking.  That's what it is believed will save those who awaken, and nothing else.  The Great Awakenings which have taken place are narrow and limited; moral conduct is not sought, nor is wisdom, or happiness.  Adherence to doctrine is what is demanded.  Nothing more.