Why Religious Pluralism Matters

Not long ago I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Martin Marty, a distinguished author and Professor at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, give a lecture on Religious Pluralism entitled “A Nation of Strangers: Living Creatively in Our Pluralistic Society”. Early in his lecture, Dr. Marty gave a convincing account of how people learn of and respond to a hurricane. First there is a satellite which receives information and transfers it from a distance, never getting near enough to the hurricane to “know” it. At the next level we have a C-130 plane that flies into the weather to make measurements and then leaves safely, armed with calculations and nothing else. As we move closer to the hurricane itself we find the “bridge tenders”. The tender has all of the information gathered from the satellite and C-130 and it is his or her job to ascertain the significance of the information and serve the knowledge to the people. The bridge tenders know all there is to know, yet they can’t leave their posts to get into the thick of things. So, who are the people that receive the knowledge from the bridge tenders? They are the very ones who are in the little huts being assaulted by the hurricane. There, where the people live, the hurricane is coming full force and the need to survive far outweighs the people’s need to understand the nature of the hurricane. Dr. Marty implies then, that in the tumultuous swirl of the humanity, religious pluralism becomes a distant and difficult solution to an immense, complicated problem. He posed the question, “How do we shorten the gap between the bridge tenders and the villagers so that the villagers can brave the storm of fundamentalism and come through with their cultural identities intact?”

Dr. Marty is adamant that there is a real urgency to have the world recognize the need for pluralism in today’s religious climate. He mentioned that even in today’s society people were ultimately unable to rally behind Mitt Romney’s Presidential bid simply because he was a Mormon. Dr. Marty suggested that Americans distrust Mormons because they are secretive, yet, as he also pointed out, some of our oldest institutions, such as the Freemasons and fraternities and sororities are just as secretive, but we continue to embrace them into our common American culture with little question. I believe wholeheartedly in Dr. Marty’s assertion that we cannot afford to be selective about which beliefs are acceptable and which aren’t. There is no room for selectivism in a society where even in places such as rural Lincoln, Nebraska there are 63 language groups represented in the public school system. With this type of diversity prevalent throughout the country, and certainly the world, we need to share our stories in order to better understand one another.

It is imperative that we move past the ideals of the first century, when we didn’t even see the concept of pluralism pre-1950 culture. The first major entrance of it into the public lexicon comes via an article in 1951 entitled “Pluralism-A National Menace”. In the article, the writer denounces a Bishop’s attempts to use public funds to get Catholic children into Catholic schools. Here, Dr. Marty recalled the Soviet Union during the Cold War, where “rivers of blood and oceans of ink were spilled” to rid a country of its pluralism. Yet, when the iron curtain was lifted all of the sects that were there in the beginning were there in the end. People’s need for religious and cultural identity is much stronger than the will of those who would seek to deny them of it.

How does religious pluralism enable everyone to live more creative, fruitful lives? First, it allows for choice. People are free to explore religions and decide for themselves which fits them best. Pluralism also allows for more innovation. As each sect develops ideas and viewpoints and in turn shares them with other sects, this personal and intellectual melding can achieve a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. When we share ourselves in these caring situations we are also ridding ourselves of the prejudices that lead to xenophobia. Of course, Dr. Marty understands that pluralism has its challenges as well. Often times, freedom can be “dizzying”, especially to people who’ve spent such a long time in an oppressive environment. We may also encounter a shallow understanding of many religions, but not a deep understanding of any. As Dr. Marty posed, “Can anthologies of stories do what classics can do?” We must address these concerns with certain mindfulness towards our task of acceptance. Time needs to be taken to not just know a person’s religion, but to know the person. We need to sit at tables together, share neighborhoods, discuss our families and help each other to laugh and mourn. Essentially we need to be in the hurricane side by side, sharing the knowledge, protecting each other, and surviving together, not as a result of one over the other. Only when we are committed to this can we begin the important work of embracing religious pluralism.