Bernard Shaw's Remarkable Religion: A Faith That Fits the Facts

16 Bernard Shaw’s Remarkable Religion
and it was not of any real use in the world. Most examinations of Shaw’s
religious ideas look primarily at those points where they resemble more
conventional theology and so fail to appreciate its foundations. They confine
themselves to the tip of the iceberg. To truly understand the Shavian
religion we must start from the bottom and work up. We must start with
the difficult task of defining the Shavian way of seeing the world, show
how this view of the world leads to fundamental premises about our relations
with each other and with the universe, and see how these premises
shaped Bernard Shaw’s thinking in every arena, both artistic and practical.
We can then realize how they determined the form and style as well as the
content of his plays and gave necessary shape to his ethical, political, and
economic ideas, as Shaw demanded of his faith that it be the foundation on
which everyday living must rest, not pious platitudes to be evaded.
I will finally examine the most difficult question of all: How can the
assertion that Divine Will permeates the universe possibly be consistent
with anything that can be called science? It is a particularly difficult question
because science has become more, not less, materialistic, more, not
less, arrogant in its assumptions of omniscience, more, not less, contemptuous
and intolerant of any attempt to interpret the nature of the universe
as spiritual or teleological. Any suggestion that the universe is other than
just a giant machine is treated as dangerous heresy and those who make
the suggestion as enemies of science and progress. At the same time, however,
voices are being heard that call attention to the areas of our experience
that science leaves unexplained and ignored and to the gaps it leaves
in our understanding. There are now two broad camps that increasingly
are drawn into a mode of battle rather than discussion and dialectic: the
traditional materialistic scientists and the traditionally unscientific religionists.
Like most armies, they instinctively assume that all who are not
enlisted on their side are of the enemy, yet a courageous few stand apart
from the combatants and point out both the flaws of each side and the
advantages of reconciliation. None of these has yet presented the case as
simply and clearly as Shaw did, but they are actually moving in his direction.
The heated contest of science and religion is useful to anyone who can
step out of the smoke of the battle for a moment because each has been
very effective at showing the weaknesses of the other side. They have, that
is, shown to anyone who can observe impartially how it is possible to have
what Shaw demanded of his creed: a faith that is both spiritual aspiration
for the future and practical guide for the present. We will see how that is
possible.