My Exit from Exclusivism

As a Catholic, I grew up believing that the Catholic Church is the only true religion. The words of my catechism teacher, “outside the church there is no salvation,” still echoes in my mind. He was repeating the official teaching of the Church, originally proposed by Cyprian of Carthage in the third century who coined the phrase, Extra Ecclesiam, Nulla Salus (Outside the Church no Salvation).

Even though the Second Vatican Council removed that phrase from its documents, the sentiments of exclusivism and religious arrogance are still prevalent in many quarters of Christian theology.

In 2012, Rev. Robert Jeffres, a Baptist minister, made this statement at the Values Summit in Washington, DC. “Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Mormonism are all false religions.”

It is the most ignorant and arrogant pronouncement anyone with any understanding of diversity should ever make. Religious apologists make the claim that all religions are not alike. No one knows enough about all the aspects of all religions to make categorical statements about the superiority of any one religion. Just as we cannot compare apples and oranges or a rose flower and a sunflower, we cannot compare religions. “Of course we can compare”, you might say. Go ahead, compare, but your conclusions from that comparison cannot be conclusive

If we can accept every religion as a human attempt to understand and approach the Divine, then we will be able to appreciate such diverse attempts without being judgmental about any one of them.

Accepting diversity in all areas of life while denying it in the religious arena is truncated thinking.

It is acceptable to believe that your religion is the right religion for you, but not the only right religion for everyone.

With so much diversity all around us, we must believe that God, who is Infinite Love, will provide multiple channels to access the source of that love. Removal of exclusivity and celebrating diversity of religions can be of huge help in creating peace on earth.

Another advantage of celebrating diversity is that we will be less arrogant and more generous in our overall approach to life.

We will fight for equality, justice and liberty for ALL, and the ALL include humans, animals, and the environment, which are all part of God’s diverse and beautiful creation.

We will be less stubborn and more flexible in all areas of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

The popular saying “blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape,” will become part of our consciousness.

Is it possible that our lives are so bent out of shape because we are holding on to thoughts, ideas and notions that have never been tested against the diversity of planet Earth?

(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)