One of the concepts of the Spherical Model related to the Social Sphere is that a
critical mass of religious people is a requirement for Civilization.
So what do we mean by religious people? There’s a Spherical
Model definition. But we’ll add to that today.
There was a talk this past week by Jeffrey R. Holland of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. He gave his remarks at Education Week, a conference for learning all
kinds of things, which happens annually, between semesters at Brigham Young
University. I’ve been traveling near there this week, but for different
purposes. Several people had mentioned this talk on Facebook, so I took time to
listen to a recording Sunday evening.
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| Elder Jeffrey R. Holland giving Education Week address |
The title is “Bound by Loving Ties.” He talks about the
etymology of the word religion. It
has to do with binding—related to the Latin word religare, meaning “to tie,” as in the word ligature. And the re- prefix means again. So religion is about
re-binding, or reconnecting ourselves to God our Creator. As Elder Holland
says,
So, for our purpose today, “religion” is that which unites
what was separated or holds together that which might be torn apart, an obvious
need for us, individually and collectively, given trials and tribulations we
all experience here in mortality.
He then goes on to introduce the importance of religion
today:
What is equally obvious is that the great conflict between
good and evil, right and wrong, the moral and the immoral—conflict which the
world’s great faiths and devoted religious believers have historically tried to
address—is being intensified in our time and is affecting an ever-wider segment
of our culture.
Near the end he says,
[T]he core landscape of history has been sketched by
the pen and brush and words of those who invoke a divine creator’s involvement
in our lives and who count on the ligatures of religion to bind up our wounds
and help us hold things together.
The talk is given to a mostly Mormon audience, but is
broader than that. It is broader than just to Christians or currently religious
people. It is about having a moral sensibility, and his references are mainly
from classic literature and music, which may be why it speaks to me. (I often
get the sense that Elder Holland is speaking to me.) It’s for all people who
understand and value Civilization.
I’m going to share the whole video below. But he began and
ended the meat of the talk with quotes from historians Will and Ariel Durrant.
The first quote is from their book The
Lessons of History, which is one of
my project books. I’ve quoted from it occasionally, searching through it for
particular sections. But I’ve been reading it through completely for a year or
so, as a Kindle book I can read on my phone while waiting in doctors’ offices
or various other waiting places. I tend to highlight something on every page.
So, first I’ll share those two quotes, which relate to
religion’s effect on civilization. And then I recommend taking the time to
listen to the whole talk. (Or you can read it here.)
“There is no significant example in history of [any] society
successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.”[i]
“These church steeples, everywhere pointing upward, ignoring
despair and lifting hope, these lofty city spires, or simple chapels in the
hills—they rise at every step from the earth toward the sky; in every village
of every nation they challenge doubt and invite weary hearts to consolation. Is
it all a vain delusion? Is there nothing beyond life but death, and nothing
beyond death but decay? We cannot know,” they say, “but as long as man suffers,
these steeples will remain.”[ii]
The talk begins following a 2 ½-minute introduction, and the
total video is 41 minutes.
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