Beyond Exclusivity in Religion
By
Jamal Rahman, New Age Islam
22 May 2021
We Need
To Promote Spiritual Inclusivity
Main
Points:
1. A
big problem in religion is the problem of exclusivity—or what can be called
‘spiritual racism’.
2. When
someone espouses religious exclusivity, it is their ego speaking.
3. All
religions are paths to a shared Universal.
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Probably
one of the biggest problems in religion is the problem of exclusivity—the
notion of one group of believers thinking they are ‘the Chosen People’ or of
one religion supposedly being the ‘only way to God’, the claim that one
particular scripture is superior to others, and so on. People have developed
over the centuries many institutions, customs and traditions around this issue
of exclusivity. These ideas promote the assertion of exclusivity, which is
often rooted in prejudice, bias, or in a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude.
Exclusivity can be very dangerous, because it often leads to excluding the
‘other’, causing violence, killing, and war.
The truth
is that when people claim they belong to their religion, most of them behave as
if they have had so many lifetimes of carefully and objectively studying all
the world’s religious traditions and, on that basis, have been able to choose
the very best among them! But of course that it not true. Most people who
believe in their religion do so simply because they were born into it, as it
were. Yet, they behave as if they have made a deep comparative study of all the
religions and have discovered that the religion they were born into is, as it
were, the best! And then they become very passionate about spreading what they
regard as this ‘Good News’ all over the world, wanting others to believe just
as they do.
When I
speak to young people—I speak at many high schools—they call this ‘spiritual
racism’. These young students point out that if we develop a ‘holier than thou
attitude’ and discriminate on the basis of the ‘color’ of one’s theological
beliefs, it is sheer prejudice and racism.
Here is
a metaphor that highlights the pitfalls of this ‘spiritual racism’:
There was
once a very sincere monkey who used to go to all the neighbourhood ponds, and
there, he would pluck out the fish from the water. His reasoning was that he
was rescuing the poor fish from a watery grave! He thought he was doing the
fish a big favour by ‘saving’ them from dying in the water!
What is
missing in the monkey’s sincerity is lack of higher awareness. His actions
actually harm the fish. Our fervent and aggressive actions to ‘save’ others by
imposing on them our version of the ‘Good News’, no matter how sincere, lacks
deeper understanding of the genuine needs of the other.
The truth
is that when someone espouses religious exclusivity—when they claim their
religion is superior to others—this is not religion that is actually speaking.
Rather, it is their ego speaking. One must be humble in recognizing this,
however, otherwise one runs the risk of becoming exclusive about one’s
non-exclusivity!
The main
point is that if my relationship with ‘my’ scripture or ‘my’ religion comes in
the way of my relationship with you, it is bound to come in the way of my
relationship with God, or Divinity, or whatever we may call the Great Mystery.
There is a
beautiful spiritual practice that is very useful in reminding us of the
pitfalls of religious exclusivity: Ponder on the metaphor of all the rivers
flowing into the Ocean. Then, remind yourself that you might be following one
river, but you must not mistake that one river for the Ocean itself.
It is my
belief that all religions are paths to a shared Universal. In the above
metaphor, the Ocean represents the shared Universal, and the river represents
my specific religion. I cannot insist that only my river flows into the Ocean.
This could be considered limited understanding. Similarly, it is a spiritual
limitation to insist that my religion is the only true path to God, salvation
or freedom.
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Based in
the USA, Jamal Rahman is a popular speaker and author on Islam, Sufi
spirituality, and interfaith relations.
Along with his Interfaith Amigos, he has been featured in The New York
Times, CBS News, BBC, and various NPR programs.
Jamal is co-founder and Muslim Sufi Imam at Interfaith Community
Sanctuary and adjunct faculty at Seattle University. He travels nationally and internationally,
presenting at retreats and workshops.
Jamal’s passion lies in interfaith community building and activism.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/going-exclusivity-religion/d/124867