Religion was never of any relevance in the quest for material prosperity and economic advancement in any century, more so in our century, where it seems not to have any significant importance today. The declining rate of organised religion and the growth of secularism in our country has progressively led many to believe that if there is any truth, particularly relevant for this century, it is no longer found in religion.
Perhaps leadership deficiencies are not the main root cause of the economic development challenges currently faced in Malta. I maintain the root cause is a decline in moral and spiritual values in society and unless meaningful progress is made here this generation is headed for serious economic and other related trouble.
I admit that both the ostensive economic downturn that we faced some time ago and the imminent challenges that our national economy must tackle have been significantly influenced by the way we have attempted and continue to attempt to secure long-term prosperity for our communities.
Could it be that morality and spirituality are the missing links for economic development in this generation? What role does morality play in economic development? What role does spirituality play in economic development? How can moral and spiritual values permeate society for development?
The conceptions of what is right and wrong and how one ought to behave in specific circumstances exert a strong influence on human behavioural aspects and this directly affects economic outcomes. There is, therefore, a serious need for a moral economic system today.
A moral economy, in other words, is an economy that should be based on goodness, fairness and justice. History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline.
Moving on to spirituality, then, this refers to the deepest values and meanings by which we should live. These values include meditation, prayer and contemplation, which are aimed at developing an individual’s inner life. Spirituality puts ultimate faith in an alleged immaterial reality that helps people to discover the essence of their being.
Today, there is a broader view of spirituality due to the declining membership of organised religion and the growth of secularism in our country as in the rest of the world.
Modern secularism has now introduced a form of secular spirituality which emphasises humanistic ideas on qualities such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, responsibility, harmony and a concern for others with the express purpose of living happily and of helping others.
Religion should be seen as a catalyst for morality and spirituality in the decay around us- Mark Said
Living a happy, prosperous and fulfilled life has always been the aspiration of man. Regrettably, with the unprecedented developments in science and technology today, many believe this material progress is enough to bring man the desired happiness such that the value of spiritual development for human happiness has greatly deteriorated.
But, without a proper sense of interconnectedness, no level of material prosperity can bring about meaningful happiness among people. The need therefore for spirituality for ostensive economic development cannot be overemphasised.
Even though spirituality and religion have certain overlapping characteristics – such as both being concerned with the search for an absolute being – there are some characteristic differences between the two. Religion is often understood as a tradition that accepts metaphysical or supernatural realities while spirituality is not necessarily bound to any particular tradition.
Religion is the form spirituality takes in civilisation. Despite the fact that a reasonable proportion of today’s population identify themselves as spiritual but not religious, the overlapping characteristics of religion and spirituality cannot be ignored in considering a way forward for the permeation of our country with a morality and spirituality that will bring about sustainable development. Indeed, religion should be seen as a catalyst for morality and spirituality in the decay around us.
A decline in morality and spirituality poses the greatest threat to development. The necessity for a moral and spiritual revival in our communities today should not just be the concern of the Church in Malta. It should also be of top priority on the agenda of all governments, otherwise, there will be no nation to rule in the long run. The fight against moral and spiritual decline in our generation today cannot be effectively won through public policies or parliamentary rulings only.
Religion has been playing a smaller part in education and upbringing than it used to and it has been in a sharp decline in Malta; we cannot be sure of the consequences for moral values. With each new generation less religious than the one before, is there any reason to expect moral decline? As religion declines in our nation, there has also been an increase in acceptance of personal autonomy on issues concerning sexuality and family.
Each generation is more liberal on these issues than the one before. People have become mired in their attitudes to self-interested behaviours like cheating, lying and stealing. Trust in institutions appears to be a more important predictor of respect for the norms of society and the autonomy of other individuals but even such trust is being eroded with time.
It is mainly when confidence in these institutions is low that religious beliefs and behaviours, validated by the social environment, can emerge as an alternative source of moral authority.