A Commentary on Religious Conflicts and a Call for a Focus on the Best the Traditions have to Offer

Transcription

1 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58:73 78 DOI /s A Commentary on Religious Conflicts and a Call for a Focus on the Best the Traditions have to Offer Thomas G. Plante Published online: 30 August 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2008 Abstract The casual observer of the religious traditions cannot get a very good impression when attending to the daily news. One might easily conclude that much of the troubles in the world today are caused by religious conflicts and the inability of the religious communities to get along. Sometimes, it appears that the planet would be better off without religion at all. Tragically, most of the general population are perhaps religious illiterates who focus on religious differences and conflicts rather than similarities and what they offer at their best. While there are a number of efforts by scholars and others to improve interfaith respect and conversation, our world would be better off if we focused on the best the religious traditions have to offer rather than the worst as well as respecting and being open to traditions other than our own. This could be accomplished if religious education and training were greatly altered. Keywords Religious conflicts. Religious education. Psychology. Interfaith Religion gets bad press Tragically, the casual observer of religion and the major religious traditions likely does not get a very good impression when reading or watching the daily news. For example, radical Islamic individuals and groups have used their religious tradition and beliefs to justify terrorism and the killing of thousands of innocent people in numerous countries around the world in recent years. It is remarkable and unimaginable to hear people justify murder and terrorism in the name of God or their religious beliefs. The casual observer who has little if any personal interactions with Muslims or with the Islamic religious tradition could easily conclude that Islam is a dangerous, violent, destructive, and fanatical religion with numerous angry and murderous people willing to kill anyone who might disagree with their T. G. Plante (*) Psychology Department, Santa Clara University, Alumni Science Hall, Room 203, Santa Clara, CA , USA tplante@scu.edu

2 74 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58:73 78 particular religious point of view. The casual observer doesn t notice that there are about ten million Muslims living in America with no violent, destructive, or fanatical behavior among this very large and growing group of Americans. Christians don t fair a lot better in the news either. Conservative evangelical protestant Christians and their leaders are often portrayed in the media as believing that only they have the answers to how to live correctly according to God s will and plan and that those who disagree with their religious and political views will ultimately be doomed to hell. The involvement of Christian conservatives into American politics most especially witnessed in the Republican Party has resulted in many legislative and legal decisions that appear to use secular means to promote religious agendas. Legislation limiting or banning same sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia, teaching evolution in the schools, stem cell research, and other hot political topics appear to be driven by the religious right in America most often associated with evangelical Christian conservatives. When some of these religious leaders such as Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and others have been found to engage in sexual and financial misdeeds, their credibility is not only severely damaged but so is the credibility of these and perhaps all Christian groups as a whole. Since 2002, the Roman Catholic Church in America has also received a remarkable amount of negative press attention regarding the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Church. The crisis emerged in Boston during January of that year but quickly spread to locations across America. After a comprehensive and independent study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and released in February 2004, over 4,000 Catholic priests and brothers were found to have abused over 10,000 child and adolescent victims during a 52 year period in America representing 4% of priests and religious brothers during this time frame. As of this date, five Catholic dioceses have gone bankrupt from the numerous legal proceedings that have followed these allegations. In fact, the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the largest in the US, settled their lawsuit with over 500 alleged victims for over 650 million dollars during the summer of Furthermore, the official Vatican and Church positions on homosexuality, divorce, and abortion also regularly receive a great deal of negative press coverage as well. The Jewish community and state of Israel is also not immune from a great deal of negative press attention. Violence between Jews and Palestinians has been in the news most every day for decades. Violence over God given land is constant with numerous innocent people getting killed in the cross fire. Any criticism directed toward Israel or the Jewish community is sometimes met with charges of anti-semitism. One could easily conclude that much of the troubles in the world are caused by religious conflicts and the inability of different religious traditions and cultures to get along with each other. Furthermore, one could argue that religious beliefs and dogma is destructive, oppressive, and health damaging to those who follow them. Sometimes, it appears that the world might be better off without any religion whatsoever. For example, the terrible tragedy of the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001 likely wouldn t have occurred without religious hate that fueled both violence and the rationalization of mass murder. However, what we read and see in the news is only a very small part of the larger story and shows the worst aspects of religious communities and traditions. There is much more to the story than what is reported in the news. Extremism, conflicts, and sensational stories make the news headlines and certainly not good news. Religiously inspired violence, hatred, intolerance, and scandals quickly and easily make headlines while religious based charity, volunteerism, and the various acts of religiously inspired kindness rarely interest news media (expect perhaps on certain holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas). We hear about only the very worst that various

3 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58: members of the religious traditions have to offer. We hear a lot about the Islamic terrorists and not about peace loving Muslims. We hear about the 4% of priests who sexually abuse minors but nothing about the 96% of priests who do not. We hear about Jewish and Arab violence but not about peaceful collaboration between and within these groups. In addition to religious conflicts and extremism, most people tend to think about religious groups in terms of their differences and not in terms of their similarities. Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas, Jews don t. Christians following the teachings of Jesus who they believe is God incarnate, Muslims follow the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Jews celebrate Passover, Yom Kipper, and Hanukkah while Christians don t. The emphasis in understanding and learning about religion seems to be based on their differences and on extremism. Yet there is as much diversity within religious traditions as there is between them. For example, Reform and Orthodox Jews do not share many of the same beliefs, customs, and lifestyle. The same is true for liberal and conservative Catholics. The recent war in Iraq has highlighted the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups that have experienced conflict for over 1,000 years. Furthermore, even among subgroups within each religious tradition, religious beliefs, customs, lifestyles, and so forth can vary radically. Just as we know it to be foolish to believe that all Latinos or all African Americans think, act, and behave in the same way, it is foolish to believe that members of the same religious tradition or even subgroup think, believe, and act in the same way. Rather, if we focus on the similarities rather than the differences among religious traditions, the many benefits of these great wisdom traditions can be seen more clearly. Perhaps we should consider focusing on the similarities and the best of what the religious traditions have to offer. However, before discussing the advantages of focusing on religious similarities, a few comments are necessary to highlight why we tend to focus on religious differences. Two likely reasons why we focus on religious differences rather than commonalities In my view, there are two fundamental reasons why most people tend to fixate on religious differences rather than similarities. First, most people get their religious education through their particular religious tradition when they are young children. Assuming that a family is a member of a religious community and tradition belonging to a church, temple, mosque, or other structured faith community, emphasis is usually placed on educating children within the tradition by focusing on what makes the religious tradition unique or special. This educational training and experience focuses, regardless of which religious tradition we are involved with, on learning the traditions, beliefs, holiday celebrations, language, and other unique qualities of that religious tradition without much if any acknowledgement of other traditions. For example, Jewish education tends to focus on learning about Hebrew, the state of Israel and why all Jews should support it, how and why to celebrate the high holy days of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah as well as the more minor holidays of Purim, Hanukkah, and the regular Friday evening and Saturday Shabbat. Christians focus a great deal on the story of Jesus with emphasis on the notion that Jesus was the Messiah and that belief in Him and his teachings are the road to eternal salvation. Children learn about Christmas, Easter, and how to pray to Jesus and accept him as their personal savior. They learn the theological reasons why Jesus died on the cross and why it is important to believe that he rose from death to eternal life and, in doing so, Christians receive eternal salvation as well. The emphasis in religious education is about learning the beliefs and traditions of the group.

4 76 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58:73 78 Sadly, the subtext of this training and education is that other religious groups and traditions are wrong and perhaps even dangerous. Furthermore, the subplot of much of religious education is also about why their particular religious tradition is the right one or the superior one and thus the others are wrong, misguided, or inferior in some way. The agenda is also formation and identification with the group to help minimize the chances that the young children will reject or leave the faith community as they mature. There appears to be a strong threat within all religious traditions that children will grow up and leave the faith of their parents. For example, marriage outside of the faith tradition often causes a crisis in many families. If a child does not come from a family that is engaged in a religious tradition, then they most likely get their information about religion through their peers who do participate in a religious community or from the popular media portrayals of the various faith traditions. These portrayals are highly distorted. Second, most religious education terminates during the early to mid teen years. There is often a significant ceremony that highlights the end of religious education. In the Jewish tradition, the bar mitzvah for 13-year old boys and the bat mitzvah for girls celebrate the transition to a full member of the Jewish community. Much emphasis is placed on learning to read the Torah in Hebrew for the ceremony, which often takes many years of Hebrew study to accomplish. In the Catholic tradition, confirmation occurs during the mid teen years and is highlighted by a special personal blessing from the local Bishop. Most children who get this far in their religious education then stop there and receive little if any additional religious education unless they actively seek it out. While the various religious traditions encourage life long religious education and learning, the reality is that most discontinue what might be perceived as more optional training following the important ceremony of confirmation, bat mitzvah, and so forth. Thus, religious education usually comes to an abrupt end during the early to mid teen years. Often, no additional religious education occurs during the adult years unless the individual seeks it out. Now, imagine a world where all education stopped by the early to mid teen years and where you learned only about your particular group and very little about other groups. Imagine essentially no education beyond middle school or perhaps sophomore year in high school and no emphasis on diversity of any kind. In fact, consider an educational program where groups other than your own are considered either a threat or are inferior in some way. If this were the reality for our secular educational system, then we would likely live in a very ignorant, intolerant, unenlightened, and perhaps chaotic world. Yet, this scenario seems to be the state of affairs for religious training regardless of the particular religious tradition. No wonder most people know only what they read about in the newspapers or see on television about religious traditions different from their own and no wonder people often have a generally low level of understanding of not only other religious traditions but even their own. This is what we are up against when it comes to having a better understanding of many of the similarities offered by the religious traditions and how to use the wisdom of these similarities among the faith traditions in our lives. For now, we turn to a way of thinking about the similarities of the great wisdom traditions offered by a useful metaphor. A step in the right direction: Huston Smith and the religious mountain metaphor Few people have contributed more to the discussion and scholarship of the similarities of the religious traditions than Huston Smith. Professor Smith is a well known theologian who has been on the faculty at UC Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington University, Syracuse University, and elsewhere and is probably best known for the Bill

5 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58: Moyer s PBS special on world religions that predominately featured Professor Smith. In his classic book, The World s Religions (Smith 1991), he well articulates an ancient view that the world s great religions are more similar than different and refers to the Hinduism contention that the various religions are but different languages through which God speaks to the human heart (p. 73). He quotes Rig-Veda (4,000 BCE), an ancient and well known Hindu sage, stating that Truth is one; sages call it by different names (p. 73). Smith provides an illustration of how to understand the world s religions that I believe can be very helpful to reiterate and use. It is a metaphor that can be used time and time again to help better understand the positive similarities of the world s religions and offers hope for interfaith relationships and understanding. He states: It is possible to climb life s mountain from any side, when the top is reached the trails converge. At base, in the foothills of theology, ritual, and organizational structure, the religions are distinct. Differences in culture, history, geography, and collective temperament all make for diverse starting points (p. 73). He then describes that as we move higher and higher towards the top of the mountain, the world s religious traditions become one path seeking truth stating, But beyond these differences, the same goal beckons (p. 73). Smith quotes Sri Ramakrishna, a famous nineteenth century Hindu religious teacher, stating: God has made different religions to suit different aspirations, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole-hearted devotion. One may eat a cake with icing either straight or sideways. It all taste sweet either way (p. 74). Thus, Smith among others, have well articulated that, at their best and most thoughtful, the various religious traditions converge together and ultimately are saying much of the same thing with different languages, customs, and traditions. Religion and spirituality at its best is certainly not what we see in the daily newspapers or on television. The best examples of religion and spirituality never make it to the headlines. Kindness towards others, caring and feeding the poor and marginalized of society, feeling peace and solace through prayer and meditation, being part of something more important and bigger than oneself, and coping better with the stressors of life through particular beliefs and understandings about the world and beyond never make the news. We must constantly climb higher on the metaphorical mountain in order to not get lost, confused, or stuck on some of the trails that are at lower elevations. Tragically, so many people involved with religion and spirituality can only climb a modest amount of the mountain perhaps never seeing some of the beauty and views from the higher elevations. Another step in the right direction: Karen Armstrong and what we can learn from the Axial Age Another step in the right direction is from the very popular contemporary writer on religion, Karen Armstrong (e.g., Armstrong 1993, 2000, 2006). Karen Armstrong is a former Catholic nun who has written a series of scholarly yet readable books that have well articulated what we can learn from the world s religions and what they offer at their best. She concludes that all of the major contemporary religious traditions such as Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, as well as Greek philosophical rationalism emerges starting in the ninth century BCE during the Axial age in four different regions of the civilized world. All of them grappled with similar issues and questions and often came to similar conclusions about religious, ethical, and social views. This included

6 78 Pastoral Psychol (2009) 58:73 78 that the spirit of compassion...lies at the core of all our traditions (Armstrong 2006, p. 476). However, she readily acknowledges that all of the religious traditions have fallen prey to exclusivity, cruelty, superstition, and even atrocity. But at their core, the Axial faiths share an ideal of sympathy, respect, and universal concern (Armstrong 2006, p. 466). The Golden Rule or treating others as you would like to be treated, is the main point and is well articulated in the sacred texts of all of the religious traditions (Armstrong 2006; Pargament 2007; Peterson 1986). In fact, Armstrong states that the Axial sages concluded that religion was the Golden Rule (Armstrong 2006, p. 468). Armstrong s books and writings have received a great deal of contemporary acclaim and readership and well articulate that the best that religion can offer is universal love, compassion, and respect for all. Conclusion It is important to mention that although Huston Smith, Karen Armstrong, and others have well highlighted the similarities among the religious traditions, religions are not necessarily all the same. They do involve different traditions, rituals, beliefs, sacred scriptures and so forth. However, they all attempt to answer similar questions about how to live life, communicate with the divine or sacred, and behave in harmony with nature and with others. They offer similar principles and tools for living. At the top of the mountain where the traditions converge, there are a number of highly desirable and useful principles and values that are beneficial. These include a focus on the sacredness of life and of the world, ethical behavior towards others, prayer and meditation, community and service involvement, and both love and respect for all. It is difficult to argue with these values, principles, and goals. Most of these values and interests among the great religious traditions can be helpful to many regardless of their particular religious traditions or affiliations even if someone has no interest in any religious traditions or beliefs. If only these topics would generally make the news or be examined during religious education and training within and between the various traditions. Our world would be so much better off if we focused on the best the religious traditions have to offer rather than the worst that they have to offer as well as respecting the religious traditions and being open to learning something from them all. References Armstrong, K. (1993). A history of God: The 4,000 year quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York: Gramercy. Armstrong, K. (2000). The battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York: HarperCollins. Armstrong, K. (2006). The great transformation: The beginning of our religious traditions. New York: Anchor Books. Pargament, K. I. (2007). Spiritually integrated psychotherapy: Understanding and addressing the sacred. New York: Guilford. Peterson, R. (1986). Everyone is right: A new look at comparative religion and its relation to science. Marina del Ray, CA: DeVorss. Smith, H. (1991). The world s religions: Our great wisdom traditions. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.