There’s no such thing as bad publicity, even for God

There’s no such thing as bad publicity, even for God

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Synagogue wrote this piece for The Times noting that “if it is true that there is no such thing as bad publicity, then God must be rather pleased”.

He argues that:

“Religion is not there to sprinkle fairy dust and pretend everything is fine really if looked at in the right way and if only the divine plan could be fully understood. Religion is there to pick up the pieces — to comfort, to help, to reform. It is there to lay down social guidelines, to prepare for next time as much as possible.

“That is why religion has always been much more than just about God. It is also why, although the secular image of faith is primarily of those at worship, the religious view is of action: one per cent praying and 99 per cent doing.

“There is a lot of wisdom in the slightly tongue-in-cheek Jewish saying that to be a good Jew, you don’t have to believe in God… just do what God says.

“The underlying message is not to waste time arguing over how to define God or to prove the existence of God, but — for those who feel a sense of the divine — to put our energy into making the most of the remarkable fact that we find ourselves alive and a citizen of this astonishing world”.

The full piece can be read here with a subscription to The Times website.