In an effort to be less controversial, today I thought I would blog about... religion. Innocuous enough. After discussing our shared curiosity of different religions, my friend, North Star, recommended I read a book called "The Shack." From Amazon: "In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him." Instead of buying this book, I accidentally bought a theologian's analysis of the book, "Finding God in the Shack" by Randal Rauser. The accident turned out to be quite interesting, because Randal Rauser's book was like sitting in on a comparative religion class in college. (With my recent need to discuss meaningful issues, this was a welcome mistake.)
I have always found religion fascinating. The devotion, guidance, strength, and corruption associated with religion is a powerful thing. I have friends who are Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Unitarians, Jews, Buddhists, Wiccans, and probably other things I have never even heard of. My view is that all of these people are trying to define their world and the powers we can not understand in a way that is most intelligible to them. It does not make sense to me that everyone else is wrong. I think everyone can be right. (This is often referred to negatively as moral relativism, but I prefer ecumenism or pluralism.)
In today's society, being a Christian can be a very polarizing. You are either with 'em or against 'em. You are either singing the accolades of Jesus Christ or you are put off by people who are. Even the words "Christian" and "Jesus" can cause visceral reactions. "The Shack" talks about what it means to be a Christian. The book essentially says, Jesus was not a Christian, because the act of basing one's life on the way Jesus lived came only after Jesus' death. When I say the word Christian, do you think of judgmental people who use Jesus as a sword to create fear? Or do you think of caring for the needy, forgiveness, and concern for others? I would guess most people have pretty strong opinions either way.
"The Shack" talks about the essence of being a Christian as living life as Jesus did. Therefore, a Muslim can be a Christian, if they are caring for the needy, forgoing judgment, loving their neighbor, etc. This was a novel idea to me. I am not a religious scholar, but based on my limited knowledge, despite the differences of interpretation found in the Bible, Torah, Qur'an, etc. if we look at the root of all (or at least most) religions, we would find the core values to be something we can all (or at least most) agree on. Be kind to your neighbor. Don't steal. Don't kill people. Help those in need. (You know. Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten stuff.) I wonder what would happen if we focused on trying to live as Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad did rather than focusing on the differences found in interpreting the dogma. Interpreting dogma is important to create a spiritual practice that is relevant to each individual. I am not advocating everyone abandon their church and become a pluralist. I understand that flies in the face of most religions. I am advocating for Jesus. For Buddha. For Mohammad. I don't want us to forget the message all of these spiritual men (I am sure there were some forgotten women along the way) were trying to tell us. Love each other. And their is no sense in judging other people's choices, because at the end of the day, whether you believe you go to heaven or turn into worm food, we are not the ultimate judge.
