By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
Religion is institutionalized faith that is prepackaged, marketed and sold as a sacred system of mystical and moral beliefs. Some who promote religion are motivated by genuine concern for their supplicants; others are charlatans whose motivations are not so benevolent. Most religions are promoted as the one true faith and as the exclusive source of salvation.
Religions are metaphorical boxes that constrain belief in mystical matters and in moral standards of legitimacy. Christianity and Islam are both exclusivist religions that condemn unbelievers. They represent a majority of the world’s population, and in a world of increasing religious diversity their conflicting beliefs are a primary source of discord, hate and hostility.
To reconcile interfaith conflict it’s necessary to think outside the box. That begins with the universal belief that God is a power beyond all powers that doesn’t favor any one religion over others. Christians and Muslims must reject their exclusivist doctrines and find universal moral values to coexist in peace. Otherwise, there will be more religious hostility and violence.
It will take mavericks who think outside the box to promote universal values in religion. Jesus was a maverick Jewish rabbi who was ostracized by religious leaders for his universal teachings. He taught the primacy of God’s love over law (Mosaic Law) and that all who struggled to do God’s will were his spiritual brothers and sisters in the universal family of God.
The teachings of Jesus are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves, including our neighbors of other races and religions. It’s a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims that was taken from the Hebrew Bible, taught by Jesus and is embraced by Islamic scholars. It’s a universal moral imperative of faith.
The reconciling and redeeming power of God’s love cannot be limited to any religion, but Christian leaders continue to reject universalism with exclusivist church doctrines and creeds that were never taught by Jesus. That’s because the church depends on its popularity to grow as a social institution, and the teachings of Jesus on sacrificial love were never popular.
Over 70% of Americans claim to be Christians in one of its myriad variations. Christian standards of morality have long defined political legitimacy in America, but in 2016 over 80% of white Christians sacrificed the moral standards taught by Jesus on the altar of partisan politics. Christians must restore altruistic standards of morality to their faith and politics, but first they must reject exclusivist church doctrines that condemn unbelievers.
In 2016, evangelical religious charlatans mobilized a mindless majority to elect a political demagogue as president. With our partisan politics now polarized it will take an existential crisis like a war or a depression to unify Americans with the spirit of altruism. Meanwhile, Christians need to think outside the box and promote universal values to prevent another political disaster.
Christians can choose to have faith in exclusivist church doctrines that make salvation dependant on exclusivist beliefs in Jesus Christ as the alter ego of God; or they can follow the universal teachings of Jesus as the word of God. The former provides cheap and easy grace, but it refutes the universal teachings of Jesus that do not favor any one religion over others.
In our globalized world of increasing religious diversity, major religions must coexist with each other, so there’s no place for exclusivist religions. Promoting religious and political reconciliation in pluralistic religious cultures requires people of faith to think outside the box to eliminate exclusivist beliefs and promote universalist values.
Notes:
Max Boot has described the GOP’s declaration of moral bankruptcy based on most Republicans in Congress “feeding Trump’s insatiable ego and pandering to his endless lust for power.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/17/gops-declaration-moral-bankruptcy/?utm_term=.234099a40cdb&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
Representative Ilhar Omar (D-Minn) is a Muslim congresswoman who recently ignited a firestorm of debate when she said that “Americans who support policies of the Jewish state are pushing ‘allegiance’ to a foreign country.” Her comments were alleged to be anti-Semitic by some and justifiable criticism of Netanyahu’s anti-Palestinian policies by others. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-democrats-israel-problem-is-not-ilhan-omar-its-netanyahu/2019/02/17/db624298-306c-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html?utm_term=.c8d41d9d22f7&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
Congresswoman Omar has since advocated that We must apply our universal values to all nations . Only then will we achieve peace. Omar argued for universal values in “an inclusive foreign policy--one that centers on human rights, justice and peace as the pillars of America’s engagement in the world…” She went on to say “Peace and respect for human rights...are universal values. They are what drove Americans to organize and protest for for equal rights and civil rights. They are what motivated nonviolent movements from South Africa to South Asia to the American South.” Her advocacy for universal values as a Muslim is noteworthy.
On the universal family of God, see Mark 3:31-35; on the greatest commandment and the related story of the good Samaritan, see Luke 10:25-37; on love over law, see Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6 and 7:14-23). Commentary on those teachings of Jesus and comparative teachings of Muhammad can be found in The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, posted in Resources at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/. A suggested outline for the purpose and process of an interfaith dialogue group can also be found in the Resources of that website.
Related commentary:
On the greatest commandment and love over law:
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(2/23/19): Musings on Loving Your Enemy, Including the Enemy Within
On faith, religion and reason:
(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
(2/22/15): Religion and Human Rights
(3/1/15): Religion as a Source of Good and Evil (Atheism)
(4/5/15): Seeing the Resurrection in a New Light
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/seeing-resurrection-in-new-light.html(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(4/26/15): An Introduction to God Is Not One by Stephen Prothero
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(5/24/15): De Oppresso Liber: Where Religion and Politics Intersect
(6/7/15): The Future of Religion: In Decline and Growing
(10/4/15): Faith and Religion: The Same but Different
(10/11/15): Seeking, Being and Doing on Our Journey of Faith
(1/2/16): God in Three Concepts
(2/20/16): The Evolution of Faith, Religion and Spirituality
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
(1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
(1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous
(1/28/17): Saving America from the Church
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(4/15/17): Easter and the Christian Paradox
(5/13/17): Voices of Reason and Hope in the Cacophony over Religion, Human Rights and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/05/voices-of-reason-and-hope-in-cacophony.html
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(7/22/17): Hell No!
(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?
(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
(10/28/17): The Moral Decline of Religion and the Seven Woes of Jesus
(11/18/17): Radical Religion and the Demise of Democracy
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(3/10/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Spirituality and Politics
(3/3/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on America’s Holy War
(3/10/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Spirituality and Politics
(6/2/18): Musings on Good Versus Evil and Apocalypse in Religion, Legitimacy and Politics
(6/30/18): Who Are We? Musings on How Our Faith Shapes Our Politics and Who We Are
(9/22/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Losing Religion and Finding Faith
(2/2/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Legitimacy and Politics
(3/2/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Post-Christian America
On Christian exclusivism and universalism:
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the (universal) Family of God http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/religion-and-new-beginnings-salvation.html
(2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?
(6/17/17): Religious Exclusivity: Does It Matter?
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism
(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism
(10/6/18): Musings on Moral Universalism in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-moral-universalism-in.html.
(3/16/19): Musings on the Evolution of Christian Exclusivism to Universalism
On mysticism and morality in Christianity:
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(1/28/17): Saving America from the Church
(3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of Democracy
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(10/28/17): The Moral Decline of Religion and the Seven Woes of Jesus
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(12/23/17): If Democracy Survives the Trump Era, Can the Church Survive Democracy? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/if-democracy-survives-trump-era-can.html.
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
(2/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Freedom and Legitimacy
(3/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christian Morality as a Standard of Legitimacy http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_24.html
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation
(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality
(5/26/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Mysticism and Morality in Religion and Politics
(7/14/18): Musings on Why Christians Should Put Moral Standards Over Mystical Beliefs
On fundamentalism:
(5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
(8/2/15): Freedom and Fundamentalism
(5/21/16): Religious Fundamentalism and a Politics of Reconciliation
On truth:
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
On Thomas Jefferson and the teachings of Jesus:
(3/17/18): Jefferson’s Jesus and Moral Standards in Religion and Politics
On discipleship and the stewardship of democracy:
(12/17/16): Discipleship in a Democracy: A Test of Faith, Legitimacy and Politics
(3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of Democracy
(1/19/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Discomfort of Discipleship
On the Protestant Reformation:
(9/30/17): The 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation: What Does It Mean Today? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-500th-anniversary-of-protestant.html.
(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
On the Enlightenment and the transformation of religion and politics:
(5/12/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
(1/26/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Evolution of the Gospel(s)
On the relationship of Jesus and the church to American culture:
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(3/2/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Post-Christian America
(3/9/19): Musings on the Degradation of Democracy in a Post-Christian America
On the prosperity gospel:
(6/15/18): The Prosperity Gospel: Where Culture Trumps Religion in Legitimacy and Politics
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