When tragedy strikes, many look to religion to help understand what has occurred and why. The religious community offers comfort and support in times of trouble. But religion is not only about consolation. Religious institutions from time immemorial have engaged communities directly in action. After the 2004 tsunami, the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, and earthquakes in Peru, Pakistan, Iran and Japan, faith-inspired institutions were among the most active in bringing relief. The mobilization of energy and resources that we see through religious organizations of many kinds, large and small, of virtually all denominations, can show humankind at its finest. There are downsides too, especially where pressures to conform or convert are exerted on people who are at their most vulnerable, but they are a relatively small part of the story.
Many faith organizations have roots in emergencies, whether "natural" (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions), man-made (wars, strife), or a combination (famine, epidemic disease). But those who are closest to emergencies face painful questions: Why it is so often the most vulnerable who suffer? Why are dangers not averted? How can the horrible suffering in crises be prevented? Story upon story tells of institutions, born during crises, with a specific humanitarian mission that broaden their horizons afterwards and work to address the deeper causes of human suffering and injustice.
A thread running through the world's great religions is concern for those who suffer poverty and exclusion. So it is hardly surprising that poverty today concerns almost every religious tradition and institution. A rich array of programs and institutions touch every facet of poverty.
But a vitally important change has occurred: while throughout most of human history, poverty and the suffering it caused seemed an inevitable feature of societies, this is simply not true today. Our societies have the know-how and resources to end poverty and to create societies where each child, each person, has the opportunity to live a decent life and develop their God-given potential. Different faiths see this new reality in different forms but, overall, a growing realization that a new social justice is possible is transfusing and transforming each faith tradition and organization.
The great 1755 All Saints Day earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal was a historical turning point, a crisis that forced new thinking about how cities were organized, how societies responded to crises, and the necessity for both individual and collective responsibility for common welfare. Today's humanitarian crises--the tsunami, Darfur, the Pakistan earthquake, and the "silent tsunamis"; like hunger, disease and schools that do not teach, are challenging religious institutions to rethink their roles. Religion has a deeply private, inward face. But it also has many public faces that look to how human communities organize themselves. Religion delves deeply into social values and norms, how societies frame their ideals and how they cope with discordance and tragedy.
So calling upon the world’s conscience to see the painful realities of inequity and, more importantly, to help shape the better world we can truly aspire to is squarely in the domain of each religious institution and each faithful heart.
