“Christianity is spirituality and not a morality”
Discuss.

I have recently finished re-reading a book that I very much enjoyed. You may have read it, but if you haven’t I really do recommend it. It is a novel; ‘Plain Truth’ by Jodie Picoult. Just in case any of you do plan on reading it some day I will try and not give anything away but the basic outline is this: a young Amish woman is put on trial accused of murdering her newborn baby which was, coincidentally, born in secret out of wed-lock. Her attorney then moves in with this Amish family in order to formulate a defence. In the process she learns something not only about the Amish but about herself, which is, of course, the way! I shall get back to this later, but for now, back to the above.

Whilst proofreading a textbook on Christian Spirituality at work I read this line. Now, I didn’t know what to think of it at first and wrote in down on a scrap piece of paper just so I could think it over later. I am usually quite good at formulating an opinion. I am never above changing my opinion and I like to grapple with issues, so this is a good one for me. At first, I instinctively wanted to agree. You can be spiritual and not live the black and white, archaic rules out to the letter! Surely to goodness! The writer of this book then goes on to say how Christianity, following the example of Christ, “enables us to find for ourselves what is right rather than tell us, except in a general way, what it is.” But I am beginning to wonder, does this mean that our spirituality can be separated from our morality? I know people who would call themselves ‘spiritual’. They believe in God. They sometimes, and sometimes regularly, attend church. They pray. They praise. They think about God and discuss Him. But they make choices that to all intent and purpose are ‘immoral’. The out and out statements, which we can call ‘general’ or not, get pushed to the way side to be replaced with shady declarations of hedonistic intent. I am not claiming that I have never done this very same thing. That in my wisdom I have never exclaimed that God wouldn’t really mind if I …. as long as I was happy. I wasn’t really hurting anyone. The rules do seem a bit outdated now, anyway, don’t they? But however we justify our choice; does it make it not a sin? Are there not lines that shouldn’t be crossed? Not because they are even intrinsically wrong, and maybe the ‘world’ would never understand, maybe we never will, but are some things off limits just because God says so? Whether we actually agree or not. And if in my spiritual life, I call myself a Christian, can I really cross those lines and still maintain my spirituality without my morality?

This is where the book comes in. In trying to create a defence for our Amish protagonist, the life of the Amish people gets examined. In a statement of character witness her brother, who lives out in the big wide world now, states that Katie, the girl, could not have committed murder ‘simply because she’s Amish through and through.’ The faith of the girl resulted in life choices and a moral code. Throughout the book we see the dilemma of a modern court trying to correlate the religious life of the defendant with the charge brought against her. Was someone automatically unable to commit a crime because they associated themselves with a community that chose to live a different way? No, not typically. Are they if that community’s spirituality bids them to live by a certain moral code? I suppose, still no. But, would that community still be what it was if you took that code away.

I am not trying to create an understanding of the life choices of the Amish people, but rather, the life choices of us un-Amish Christians. It would be too far from the truth to say that I am a conservative Christian, that I take the fundamentals for what they are without question and that I follow the rules quietly. I do not. But at the same time, is following the rules the only thing I have to show that my insides count? Could I tell God that I loved him in my head and ponder the mysteries of the universe and then choose to lie to my friend and steal from my boss? Can my spirituality mean anything when my actions separate me from the God who had the rules written in stone?

I realise that I have written an awful lot just to pose more questions than I’ve answered. And I suppose whether in the end I agree or disagree, it will get me no closer to an easy life. If I believe that some things are immoral. That God ordained a way of life. What do I say to the people I love who don’t live by those same rules? If I choose to believe that I can separate the rules from my relationship what do I do to mark my covenant, to show that it matters? Can you be amorally spiritual or is our meeting with the Almighty as much about boundaries as it is about wings?