Faith, the Cornerstone of a Harmonious Society

谭文

Faith, the Cornerstone of a Harmonious Society

In the year of 2005, the notion of a harmonious society has really become a craze sweeping our nation, probably standing out more prominently than the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games which is now at hand. You know the time when we could hardly open our eyes without seeing and mind our ears without hearing those slogans pertaining to that notion. However, it to some extent and in many aspects remains just a notion though progress is being slowly and painfully made. It compels us to give it another thought, after all those fuss, that what a harmonious society really is and that how we can actually manage to build such a society.

The concept of harmonious society originates from the ancient philosophy of China, which is more than probably related to Confucius idea of Datong or Great Harmony. This idea, or more exactly this dreamboat of our ancestors, after more than 2,000 years of evolution, is now interpreted in the government report in 2005 as having the following characteristics: democracy and the rule of law, fairness and justice, integrity and fraternity, vitality, stability and order, and harmony between man and nature. It is a concise and responsible interpretation on our government’s part. From these characteristics we can deduct that a harmonious society should embrace at least three aspects, i.e. the harmony between different individuals, the harmony an individual has with himself, and the harmony between human and nature. Of the three main aspects, we can notice that humans are given the highest priority. So humans play an obviously important role in the realization of a harmonious society.

But how can humans help accomplish this goal by doing their shares? We know of course what we should do is to try to eliminate all kinds of evils and bring harmony among every component of the society. However, as soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy. It is really quite to the point. The present age has seen a great slump in morals and ethics. Since there is no absolute standard for morals and ethnics, everyone who professes themselves as a liberal can define them arbitrarily in their favor. If you reproach one for his immoral behaviors, he would more often than not answer back by resorting to what he interprets as morals and, of course, it is an interpretation to his advantage. Then the system of moral order seems to be thrown into confusion and actual paralysis. In other words, they are openly defied and violated. And those moralists or righteous people, though deeply concerned about the ever-deteriorating moral standard of modern society, have tried in vain to arouse the public awareness of the danger and threat they have been accumulating for themselves. It is true when Christopher Dawson said that “Every society rests in the last resort on the recognition of common principles and common ideals, and if it makes no moral or spiritual appeal to the loyalty of its members, it must inevitably fall to pieces”. And that is exactly the problem our nation is confronted with.

Human beings are perhaps the shrewdest creature on this globe. They know and will find every possible way to protect themselves from any accusation made by others. So that’s why it is so difficult to formulate any possible moral standard for our society to restrain and direct the behaviors of its members. What’s more, those rules and regulations forced upon human beings by morals and ethics are always suppressive and thus seldom virtually take effect in our society. Well, is there actually any feasible solution at all? The answer is faith.

Perhaps many people would get confused at the first sight of the word “faith” and what immediately comes into their mind would very likely be the contemptuous thought that it is religious and religion is only what those who has mental or psychological problems goes after. Is that really the case? Absolutely not. Many people tend to live under the illusion that they are faithless. However, it is by no means the case. Actually many of those are living with a faith they themselves have not noticed. Faith in its broad sense means confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. So their faith may fall on a person they love or adore, such as their lovers, idols and so on. It can also be other inanimate objects like a book, a story or things like that. Here we talk about faith from its spiritual level.

Faith may help cultivate a person’s moral integrity, steer them away from materialistic temptations, and build their will against adversity. Many people would readily rise against this statement by professing that they care about only material pleasure and nothing spiritual would be on their routine agenda. It is true that if man limits himself to a satisfied animal existence, and asks from life only what such an existence can give, the higher values of life at once disappear. You can give men food and leisure and amusements and good conditions of work, and still they will remain unsatisfied. You can deny them all these things, and they will not complain so long as they feel that they have something to die for. The majority of people nowadays seem to be in this kind of state, in which they ask for some changes in their lives but at the same time they would just take life as it comes and be satisfied with the present actuality. However, if men can delight themselves in something of moral and spiritual rather than in those fleeting and capricious concrete goals in life, the moral standard of the whole nation will be greatly elevated. Faith asks its believers a constant self-reflection, i.e. introspection concerning what is right and wrong and how they can gradually arrive at a relatively virtuous self. If the majority members of a nation have faith, then its invisible moral standard among people will work more spontaneously and needs no visible constraints and limitations. However, the problem is that what kind of faith should our nation take and how to make it acceptable to its members. This leaves a lot to discuss and every one of us should give it a good thought.

It is true faith plays a very important role in human life, and it is especially the case if the faith men have is a desirable one. No nation would ever achieve a harmonious atmosphere among its members without a unified faith shared by the majority of its members. So it is on our government’s part to take this issue into consideration and give it due priority. Only by doing so, can the cornerstone of a harmonious society be erected and the realization of a harmonious society be attainable.