Roche: questioning religion leads to faith
By ANDREW THAGARD
News Writer
Intellect and religion can mix, said Mark Roche, dean of the College of Arts and Letters in a lectured titled "Religion and Intellectuals" Tuesday.
"The idea that intellectuals cannot be religious … is irrational and embarrassing," Roche said.
Approximately 25 students and professors attended the talk held at the Hesburgh Library Lounge.
According to Roche, most people initially hold a position of "simple faith." He characterized this perspective as one of total acceptance of a religion, as a "moment of naïve piety."
"Most of us at Notre Dame have been raised in a religious household and we don't initially question our religious beliefs," he said.
While Roche said he admires some aspects of this position on religion, he added that it does not allow a person to defend his or her faith against others and forces them to downplay problems within their religious institution.
Instead, Roche advocated maintaining an open frame of mind in regard to religion, calling internal questioning of faith "healthy," especially when used as "an opportunity to measure the validity of one's own religion."
"I absolutely endorse the idea that a loss of faith or the criticism of faith can ultimately strengthen [it]," he said.
He highlighted the existence of other faiths, such as the fundamentalist and sociological perspectives.
The fundamentalist perspective emerges amid a crisis of faith and is generally a radically conservative view of religion.
"There is no tolerance of a secular position that contradicts the religious," Roche said of this view, claiming that this position "produces tremendous conflict."
The sociological perspective, he said, has much in common with skepticism. This school of thought recognizes the importance of the moral component of religion but discredits the importance of faith and the divine. Roche further explained the sociological perspective as wanting to "use religion for alterior purposes."
In order to attain a more moderate view of faith and religion, he suggested combining favorable aspects of each perspective. This perspective would lack the blind acceptance of one's own religion but recognize the inherent virtues of religion. Additionally, Roche maintained that it would allow religion to be weighed against reason, while recognizing its contributions to society.
Roche said that this perspective is a major component of the world's major religions, especially Christianity. He praised Notre Dame as an institution that embraced this view.
"Notre Dame tries to help students to develop a philosophy of faith which is why it's a good place to have a crisis of faith," Roche said.
Roche encouraged his audience to continue to reflect on the issues behind religion and intellectualism.
"With grace I think that we today can find a path that brings together reason and faith in a productive way.
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 15, 2000
