I grew up thinking that my faith...er...excuse me...my religion...was the only "right" religion.
I knew I was a Christian because I went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. I had all of my dogma down. As a teenager, I argued with friends over the fact that God created the earth in seven, 24-hour days and I argued that evolution was wrong and didn't exist. I was a good, moral person and very adamant about my beliefs.
Then I went off to college.
I began seeing the world.
I was thrown for a loop when I took communion at a church in Italy and they had wine instead of grape juice! (I had always been taught that any kind of alcohol was sinful!)
When I did an internship in Chicago, I was dumbfounded at the faith of recovering alcoholics who followed the 12-step program better than I followed my Bible...and who truly believed in a "Power greater than themselves."
When I went to Africa, I was taken aback when members of the church walked in, kneeled at the front, and made a "sign of the cross" just like Catholics.
When I moved to Boston, I had to re-evaluate my beliefs as women played important roles in the church.
Yet, no matter who they were, or how they worshipped, I began to see that people had a deep faith. I came to the conclusion that faith was more about actions and interactions than it was about dogma. I recognized that their faith may not be the way I profess my faith and that they may not call their "higher power" God like I do, but we all believe in something greater than ourselves...and what we believe in impacts the way we live.
I came to the conclusion that "different" didn't mean "wrong."
It's exciting to me to think that we can unite knowing that we all have "faith" in common...no matter how we choose to celebrate that faith. Faith that drives a people leads to good things--whether Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, etc. We are not that different.
The Baha'i faith has recognized this and has begun sponsoring Sunday School classes that do just that...bring people of different religions together to learn from each other and learn with each other about virtues. You can read/listen to the segment here: Class Teaches Virtues to Children of Many Faiths.
So many times, I think we bring up economic, racial, religious differences and we talk about "tolerance." I think we need to do more than "tolerate" one another. I have hope that classes like these would take people from "tolerance" and move us toward appreciation and acceptance.
7 comments:
I agree that often dogma takes the place of faith/relationship. However, something has to be true, and don't you believe that Jesus is the one path to a relationship with God? I don't want to get hung up on stuff like women's rights, how often to take communion, singing acapella verses with instruments, etc. There is too much arguing over that. Too much arguing over catholic verses protestant, and defending verse by verse in the Bible to support our own agenda. But faith in Jesus differs from faith in Buddha. I guess I am not sure how I can say I have the same faith as a Hindu, or animalist, or whatever since I think Jesus says clearly he is the only way to God. I think there's a difference between not splitting hairs over the nitty gritty details of Christianity and saying that all people who have faith in anything at all, be it Jesus or not, are connected to God.
I just believe that all faiths are important and should be valued. No matter what faith we were brought up with, we were each taught that ours was "right." I no longer have a strong desire to try to convert people who don't believe in the same God I do the same way I do. I think yours and my strong belief in God is just as important and valuable as my Indian friend's belief in God, or Allah.
Then you must view Jesus as only a "good prophet man" not Son of God that died to remove our sin and put us right with God. Jesus can't be Savior for me, but not for someone else since they don't view it that way. He is either Savior or not. If all faiths are equally valid as you say, then Christ's claim is invalid and therefore there is no point of being a Christian. That is why I can't swallow the belief that all religions are equally true. To do that, I would have to abandon my faith in Jesus as God's Son and a sacrifice for sin. And at that, toss the Bible aside as rubbish.
"Something has to be true" for whom? I believe insisting on God to be the same all the time (regardless of what one verse says paints God in a corner. If a being is powerful enough to create a universe, the same being should have the capacity to change when change is called for.
Anonymous, I completely agree. I always thought it was curious that I was taught never to question God. I discovered later that we were being taught not to question man's interpretation of God.
I believe that Jesus is about bringing us all together. If God is God, didn't he create all of the faiths anyway?? I think we will never know how all of that plays out and works together while we are still here on earth.
I don't believe God created all faiths. I believe that man - in his desire to please himself - created different "faiths." I do believe in tolerance. Much more so since meeting and marrying my Russian husband. He is technically a Jew (since his mother was Jewish) but was raised Orthodox. I do believe there are absolutes. For example, I do believe it's wrong to have instruments in worship and I do believe in communion every Sunday. When he moved to the States, he began attending a CoC because it was most like the Orthodox church in regard to their order of worship, etc. He teases me all the time about the church not starting on Main Street U.S.A. He reminds me that the church began in the East. Things (order of worship) were pretty much passed down generation to generation. We need to remember that the church was in existence long before there was the printed Bible.
Hey Janet,
I believe Jesus is the risen Son of God who walked this earth, was murdered, and came back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. If anyone asks me if I believe Jesus is the Son of God or if he is the one true path, I will say yes, I believe that.
I have also come to believe it is absolutely fruitless to bang anyone over the head with what I believe. Before I can have a conversation with someone about Jesus or sin or whatever, we have to come to an agreement about the Bible. That may or may not happen over the course of our relationship. It for sure won't happen if I start out belittling that persons beliefs out of hand.
The only people Jesus came close to condemning were the religious leaders of his earthly religious heritage. For all the other people he came into contact with, he pointed to God and to himself.
I decided some years ago, it's not my job to question, condemn or judge someone else's beliefs. It is my job to give an account for mine when asked.
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