The constantly adapting secularised God of 21st Century

One should appreciate that religious communities and congregations are not monolithic

In his New Year's message to the world, when Pope Francis declared that violence against women insults God, it raised a few eyebrows. After all, this was not the first time that the Pope had spoken about social issues. Since his ascension in 2013 as the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, the Pope has been vocal about a variety of social and political issues; be it advocating for greater activism for climate justice, equitable and accessible healthcare for all, welcoming members of the LGBT community to the Church, or being openly critical of capitalism and consumerism. Even while defending the traditional beliefs of the Catholic Church on a contentious issue such as abortion, he builds his defence on the grounds of reason and science more often than theology.

The Pope is not the only religious figure participating in the discourse around developmental issues today. Today, every society is witnessing a resurgence of religious institutions responding to contemporary social and economic problems relating to health, livelihoods, education, and the environment. In other words, they are participating in the development project.

Why is this significant, one may ask?

Perhaps because, once upon a time, people had imagined religion and development to be in binary opposition to each other and development was seen as an essentially 'secular' subject. Religion, according to this perspective, was imagined as patriarchal, regressive, anti-science and anti-equality while the 'secular' development project was seen as embedded in reason, rationality, democracy and human rights. In continuity with these ideas, the discourse that was led by international development agencies after the Second World War marginalised religious players as their teachings were perceived to be incompatible with the ideas of human rights, gender equality and liberal secularism.

In post-colonial India, too, the State did not accord an important status to religious institutions in the development domain for quite some time, despite the latter's contributions to social reform in the colonial period. In an edited book titled 'Religion, Community and Development: Changing Contours of Politics and Policy in India', Professors Gurpreet Mahajan and Surinder Jodhka have shown that in the backdrop of the bloody Partition, religious actors were seen as divisive forces by the State and potentially capable of entrenching the religious, caste, and gender divides. The task of development planning was primarily seen as the State's responsibility.

With time it has become evident that secularisation didn't quite follow the trajectory it was expected to by its adherents. While indeed religion does not function as a 'sacred canopy' anymore across most societies, it has come to re-assert itself in the public domain though it has significantly transformed itself in the process. Religious organisations working in the development domain like to be called 'secular' and constantly invoke the language of rights, equality and social justice. In India, as elsewhere, the contribution of religious organisations to philanthropy and developmental activities has been steadily growing.

A large-scale economic survey of religious institutions in India conducted by a team of researchers based in Cambridge and Delhi between 2006 and 2010 found that post-1991, religious institutions have increased their participation in providing food, education, healthcare, childcare and employment. An analysis of the FCRA data from 2009/10 to 2018/19 reveals that the proportion of the contribution of religious funding to overall funding has steadily increased from 2014/15 onward; averaging 7 per cent from 2014/15 to 2018/19 versus 2 per cent average contribution during 2009/10 - 2013/14. Religious organisations are also better embedded in the community and have access to a large pool of volunteers, widespread networks and command respect from vast sections of people across societies.

Given the enormity of problems facing the world today, one cannot escape the fact that we need more partners and allies. Hence, greater openness to building religious institutions and leaders as allies in the battle against poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy will likely help us reach our developmental goals faster. While certain beliefs of religious organisations are antithetical to democracy and equality, one has to appreciate that religious communities and congregations are not monolithic. For every conservative and repressive tradition upheld by religion, there have been counter traditions that have evolved within the same faith. It is usually possible to negotiate these tensions through an approach of 'overlapping consensus' and clearly demarcating boundaries that disallow discrimination or favouritism.

Like all other institutions in society, religion is living, dynamic and evolving. When Nietzsche famously declared in the 19th Century that God is dead, he was referring to how scientific development and the birth of reason post Enlightenment in Europe had annihilated the idea of a divine moral force governing the universe. Perhaps that God has indeed died. In the 21st Century, however, a new God is alive and kicking, and she is constantly adapting herself to secularised forms to remain triumphant. Development professionals, are you listening?

(Malini Bhattacharjee is faculty at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.