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PATH TO HARMONY AMONG THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS A
sermon delivered October 20, 2002 at the Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
Let me begin with
a story: Bishop Spong also
challenged the dignitaries. "Jesus must have Suffice it to say that Oprah Winfrey had the last word. "Don't you see? Jesus was a woman. She had to feed a crowd at a moment's notice. After dying on the cross, she had to get up from the tomb, for woman's work is never finished." It all goes to suggest that Jesus is like a Rohrschach test, in the eye of the beholder. A couple of years ago, the Washington Post reported that as Russian soldiers and Chechnian rebels were in hand-to-hand combat and within earshot of one another, the Muslims shouted "Allah Akbar", God is great, to which the Russians from the formerly atheist Soviet Union, responded with "Christ is risen." This is part of a long, bloody history where people kill one another in the name of God. How come that religions that proclaim sublime ideals turn into hotbeds of prejudice, intolerance, war, and genocide? Imagine now -- and it takes a big leap of faith -- that at the beginning of the third millennium of the current era, Sarah, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad were to return into our midst and with the benefit of hindsight, were to share with us their updated wisdom. After introductions
had been duly made, matriarch Sarah, Abraham's wife,went first, ladies
first. Moses is overcome with memories. "I too am remorseful. I made my tribes believe that they were the darlings of the Most High, God's chosen people. Big mistake with terrible consequences. Every nation wants to be God's chosen people, so we became victims of jealous, murderous wrath." Muhammad is upset as well. "Nowadays, many perceive Islam as jihad, holy war, and worse, terrorism. You who live in the West, proud of your material achievements, may I remind you that our faith has a glorious history as a civilizing force. When in the year 1492 of your calendar, the year Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic, Queen Isabella expelled both Muslims and Jews from Spain, the beginning of Spain's decline. After many centuries of Convivencia, of Moors, Christians, and Jews living together, learning together, respecting one another, we became mortal antagonists. Colonialism and racism are other depressing chapters in Western history. "I join you in condemning the excesses of Muslim fundamentalists, butneed I remind you that you have your own inflexible orthodox Jews, fanatical Hindus, and Christian fundamentalists who pretend that they represent the essence of their respective religions? I commend to you the Sufis, the mystic of our faith, who brought so much beauty, poetry, and uplift to the human condition." Jesus too was a mystic, speaking in parables, rather than using the dogmatic discourse of scribes and Church councils. "I am delighted that the Jesus seminar of hundreds of Christian theologians and scholars, are searching for and uncovering the real me. The Jesus Seminar challenges layers of misinterpretation and misunderstanding of my humble teachings. The Seminar seeks to separate the wheat from the chaff. I hope to be invited to one of their next meetings." Encouraged by such utterances, are we beginning to dream that it is possible to establish harmony between the world's great monotheistic religions? By extension, might we conceive of an even larger harmony? Might we envisage a planetary faith, that includes the virtues of paganism, with its attunement to nature, the Buddhist path of meditation and compassion, and the gifts of Hinduism, such as yoga? Reality check. We live in the aftermath of September 11. Osama bin Laden and supreme leader Omar are still at large. We are told there are al Quaeda cells in 60 countries, even in our midst. The Middle East is in turmoil. Add to all of this a look in the rear mirror, millennia of religious intolerance, discrimination, torture, and wars. There are plans afoot to embark upon a crusade to conquer Iraq and secure its oil. Enough to make us despair. Still, hope springs eternal in the human breast. We are not condemnedforever to repeat the mistakes of the past. It is within our power to seek out new, creative avenues. The need for accommodation and harmony is great. There is no time to be lost. Is religious harmony possible? Yes and no! No, if we continue on the path of exclusiveness, self-righteousness, and one-upmanship. Yes, if we honor inclusiveness and respect diversity. Yes, if we can conceive of unity in diversity. Yes, if move in a spirit of mutual goodwill and acceptance. No, if we freeze
differences into non-negotiable positions. No, if we divid people into
believers and infidels, into camps of orthodoxy and heresy. We dare not submit to the follies of fanatics, addicted to man's inhumanity to man. When will we gain the insight that the birth of different faiths proceeds from different historical circumstances? It should not be that difficult. The overarching theme ofthe Jewish faith, for instance, is the story of liberation from slavery in Egypt. Though it has a particular time-slot and place in history, it is a universal, prophetic theme. While emerging out of the Jewish experience, it continues to resonate throughout the globe, in the hearts and minds of countless generations. We find it in the struggle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who has been called a modern-day Moses. We find it in Gandhi's non-violent resistance, in Mandela's search for reconciliation. It echoes in the martyrdom of Michael Servetus against an oppressive Church, in Channing's passionate outcry "Forever young for liberty." On the other hand, Judaism badly misses the mark when it claims that Jews are God's chosen people. While understandable as a counterbalance to slavery in Egypt, it turned out to be counterproductive. It is of the childish one-upmanship variety "My daddy is bigger than yours," childish narcissism "We are God's favorite." Such bragging triggers resentment and hatred: "We'll show you who is boss. We'll push you into ghettoes, expel you, ship you in cattle cars to gas chambers." This in no way excuses anti-Semitism, but illustrates how an absurd premise, can lead to absurd consequences. How do we transcend such tragedy? We already possess a model for what to do. We find it in how the history of the Jewish tribes was made into a universal theme, the struggle to overcome slavery in all its forms. Proclaim that all nations, all tribes, all races are chosen. God plays no favorites, otherwise God is not God, but idolatry in the service of chauvinism. Christianity, like Judaism, has a universal message, the triumph of love and life over Herod, over Pontius Pilatus, over a phony Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, ultimately over death. Jesus, though dead in the flesh, liveth in the spirit of the faithful. One can crucify the body, but one cannot kill the human spirit. Where Christianity misses the mark is when it claims that Jesus is the One and Only Son God, the One and Only Lord and Savior. Jesus is reported to have said "Whatever I do, you can do." Jesus summons us to sublime, divine greatness, while the dogmatic Christ of scribes and theologians remakes us human beings into inferior, miserable sinners. From a historical and geographic perspective, in the confines of the small Meditarranean universe, the claim of Christ's uniqueness is understandable as it competes with the ancient, pagan world-view. Now, a couple of millennia later, in an era of globalization, Christians are invited to let go of triumphalism. How about Islam? Islam announces "La Ilaha Ill' Allah, Mohammeda rasulela," God is one and Muhammad is its prophet. Translation: Reality is one, interconnected, and Muhammad is a prophet of the principle of oneness. So far, so good. Alas, zealous theologians get into the act and in their exercise of one-upmanship, Muhammad is certified as the greatest and "last" prophet. Later prophets are disqualified. Actually, prophets keep arising, the Baha Ullas, the Mahatma Gandhis, the Martin Luther Kings, the Thich Nhat Hanhs, of this world. Their name is legion. What do we learn from all of this? As long as religions do not stray fro the high road of universal, unifying insights and wisdom, our faith traditions are a boon. As soon as they start to vie for supremacy and force people into dogmatic straightjackets, they become a curse upon the human race, a source of intolerance, prejudice, torture, in the extreme unholy war and genocide. The task before us
is not really that complex or difficult. Go from the confrontational approach
to the promised land of mutual appreciation. Judaism will not lose anything if it gives up the notion of the chosen people. The Reconstructionist wing of Judaism has already done so. Christianity is not doomed, if it concedes that Christ is not the Only Lord and Savior. Catholic theologian Paul Knitter has already written a book, asking the question "No Other Name?" Bishop Spong proclaims a new Christianity without dogma and without a unique divine incarnation in Christ. Islam will not be crippled, if it admits that Muhammad is not the last prophet. Voices are arising in the Islamic world that clamor for a kinder, gentler, less militant understanding of Islam. The Unitarian faith is not diminished, if it grants that reason is an instrumental, rather than an ultimate value, that feelings and spirit matter, that enthusiasm and ecstasy are OK, that myths, while wrong in detail, are often right in intention. Let me close with some enlightened sayings from my manuscript A Faith for the Global Village. The third millennium will be spiritual or there will be no third millennium. Andre Malraux Traditional religions must give up any pretense to monopoly of what religion stands for. Raimundo Pannikar Whoever excludes others will find himself excluded in turn. Those who affirm that their God is the only God are doing something dangerous and pernicious. The Dalai Lama We have come to a point in history when anyone who is only oriental or occidental is only half human. Huston Smith There is no excuse
for provincialism. May it be so. |