We can no longer afford tribal religion

When it comes right down to it, if we are completely honest - and there is no reason to be less than honest - the world can no longer afford to turn a blind eye toward the kind of tribal religion that teaches that other people must be converted at all costs. Equally bad are those religions or spiritual teachers that teach that people who are members of other religions, or no religion at all, are somehow defective. This notion of the other as inherently defective easily leads to dehumanizing the other and failing to recognize the divinity that we all share and bear. Once we convince ourselves that the other is less than fully human, we feel justified in heaping all kinds of abuse on them because, after all, it's not as if they were anything like us!

I don't presume to say that we all have to believe the same thing. I believe that the very presence of religious diversity throughout the history of our world is a good indication that there is a reason for that diversity. The reasons for that diversity are many, but the reasons are less important than acknowledging the fact that religious diversity exists. As Bishop Carlton Pearson has said, "We don't have to go along to get along." Stated another way, if a belief system works for some people, there isn't any need for outsiders to try to fix it. When we try to "fix" someone else's understanding of their faith we at best create resentment. The longer and harder we try, the more resentment we create - and the more resentment we create the more likely it is that violence will erupt.

It is clear to me that the trend of the present and future is pluralism - both in the spiritual arena and in other areas of life as well. The advent of the Internet made pluralism all but inevitable because people were exposed to the great diversity that exists in our world. Once exposed to that diversity it was inevitable that some of us would find meaning in previously unknown systems of thought and belief. Those with an investment in the status quo have spent the last twenty to thirty years attempting to put the genie back in the bottle while those with an interest in a truth based future have grown to the point where they no longer fit in the bottle!

Whenever we see someone disparaging the beliefs of another - whether the people doing the disparaging are doing so out of a fundamentalist fear of hell or out of a supremely arrogant and narcissistic belief that they are more spiritually and intellectually developed and perceptive - we have a responsibility to speak up and stand with those being attacked. Authentic faith, authentic religion, and authentic spirituality all share a loving acceptance of the other. If we are going to make our world a peaceful place, we must be willing to speak up on behalf of anyone being marginalized for their beliefs - whether or not we agree with their beliefs! There is too much at stake for us to remain silent!