By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
Since
last week’s commentary on religious exclusivity, that topic has reverberated
through the media. It demands a second look
at the question: Does religious exclusivity—the belief that God condemns
unbelievers to eternal damnation—matter in politics?
The greatest commandment to love God and
to love our neighbors as we love ourselves—including neighbors of other races
and religions—is a common word of
faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
A belief that God limits his love and salvation to those of one religion
and condemns all others to eternal damnation is in conflict with that love
command.
Proselytizing
is a mission priority of exclusivist believers, but it demeans other
religions. Jesus was a Jew who never
promoted any religion and taught that all who did God’s will were part of the
family of God. Exclusivist church
doctrines that established Christianity as the one true faith and defined hell came
later; they were created and promoted by the church.
Fareed
Zakaria has reminded us that our nation is polarized on “core issues about
identity, culture and religion” that make compromise seem immoral. Religious and political reconciliation is a
priority, but religious exclusivity is an obstacle to that reconciliation. If God’s will is to reconcile and redeem
humanity and Satan’s will is to divide and conquer, then Satan has done a
convincing imitation of God in the church, mosque and in politics.
Michael
Gerson has pointed out that 80% of evangelical Christians, 63% of Catholics and
76% of Muslims believe that God condemns all unbelievers to hell. Those statistics indicate that religious
exclusivity will be an obstacle to political reconciliation. That certainly matters in politics, but Gerson
does not reject exclusivist religious beliefs in arguing for religious
pluralism.
Jacob
Lupfer criticized Bernie Sanders as the
unwitting star of cluelessness on religion at the confirmation hearing for Russel
Vought. He praised Vought, who “without
explaining or defending his belief that Muslims stand condemned stated I
believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of
dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs.”
It
defies reason to think that a person can believe Muslims “stand condemned” by
God and still consider them “…made in the image of God and worthy of dignity
and respect.…” But Lupfer avoided that contradiction
by arguing that religious beliefs should be ignored in confirmation hearings, where
only political issues like health care policy should be considered.
The
theological arguments underlying religious exclusivism will not be easily
resolved. Religions will continue to
defend their exclusivist doctrines, and tradition is a powerful force in
opposing progressive change. Since exclusivist
believers promote religious division, how can progressive believers promote
religious and political reconciliation?
Reconciliation
requires countering the divisiveness of religious exclusivity with love for our
neighbors of other races and religions.
To that end a group of prominent religious leaders, including Pope
Francis, Ayotollah Sayyid Fadhel Al-Milani, Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein and
the Dalai Lama, has issued an appeal for believers to make friends with those
of other religions. Friendship is a
mutual act of love that truly matters in religion and politics.
Notes
and related commentary:
On last week’s commentary on religious exclusivity and discrimination in
politics see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-and.html.
On Fareed Zakaria’s commentary on
why the country is frighteningly
polarized, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-dont-just-think-the-other-side-is-wrong-anymore--we-think-theyre-immoral/2017/06/15/f218c3e4-5207-11e7-be25-3a519335381c_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
On Michael Gerson’s commentary on
Bernie Sanders’ crusade against…believing
in hell see
On Jacob Lupfor’s commentary on Bernie Sanders as the unwitting star of
liberal cluelessness in religion, see http://religionnews.com/2017/06/14/bernie-sanders-the-unwitting-star-of-liberal-cluelessness-on-religion/.
On the world’s top religious leaders issuing a rare joint appeal to make
friends of those in other religions, see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/worlds-top-religious-leaders-issue-rare-joint-appeal_us_5942c11ee4b06bb7d2719e8e.
On all who do God’s will as
brothers and sisters of Jesus in the
family of God, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/religion-and-new-beginnings-salvation.html.
On the greatest commandment as a common word of faith, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/the-greatest-commandment-common-word-of.html.
On apostasy and blasphemy laws undermining
a common word of faith, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/jesus-meets-muhammad-is-there-common.html.
On promoting religion through evangelism and proselytizing, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/02/promoting-religion-through-evangelism.html.
On a fundamental problem with religion, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/05/a-fundamental-problem-with-religion.html.
On who is my neighbor, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/who-is-my-neighbor.html.
On the politics of loving our neighbors as ourselves, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/the-politics-of-loving-our-neighbors-as.html.
On religion and a politics of reconciliation based on shared values, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/11/religion-and-politics-of-reconciliation_19.html.
On how religion can be ridiculous, see
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/religion-and-reason-redux-religion-is.html.
On the need for a revolution in religion and politics, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/02/.
On the relevance of Jesus and the irrelevance of the church in today’s
world, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/04/the-relevance-of-jesus-and-irrelevance.html.
On intrafaith reconciliation as a prerequisite for interfaith
reconciliation, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/05/intrafaith-reconciliation-as.html.
The bar is set high for every one of the bloggers out there.Joseph Hayon
ReplyDeleteBut these very elitist notions are why, as a young adult, I reached out to many other traditions and discovered how narrow and oppressive a viewpoint like this can be. https://www.eyeofthepsychic.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Mark. I see that you focus on psychic and mystical matters. My faith is grounded in mystical beliefs, but I, like Thomas Jefferson, have chosen to address the moral imperatives of faith that relate to politics and leave mystical beliefs to individual believers.
Delete