Scene: An old mahogany shelf inside the National Cathedral. The shelf is slightly dusty, yet filled completely with books. The Bible sits on the most center shelf. Two new books; the Qua-ran and the Vedas are placed next to the Bible. This is the first time the three texts have interacted and they do not know what to think of one another. They are all interested in their similarities and differences, yet want to remain true to their identities.
Vedas: Whoa, where am I?
Bible: The National Cathedral in Washington D.C.!
Qua-ran: Wait a minute, the National Cathedral. The United States is not supposed to have a national religion it says so in the First Amendment.
Bible: It does, but still lots of Americans think Christianity has a unique position
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Qua-ran: Religious diversity is without a doubt a good thing. But to me there is a difference between accepted diversity and the tolerance of diversity (Tiedmann, 85). I don’t think religions are always accepted here, it almost seems that is is merely tolerance towards other religions besides Christianity.
Bible: Well how do you define tolerance then?
Qua-ran: In my opinion, tolerance is a self-restraint to ensure peace, it is seen as burden we must learn to live with (Tiedmann, 85). This is not the kind of attitude the United States must have it must delve deeper than that.
Vedas: I feel like the United States could go either way on tolerance or diversity, sure multiple religions are present in the U.S., but I don’t know how well they are respected in society.
Qua-ran: I am sure it would depend on who you ask, people are products of their environment.
Vedas: Well would it help to know that having friends of different faiths increases acceptance of other religions and reduces false notions about them (Campbell and Putnam, 621). Even this simple relationship can greatly alter you
Religious tolerance and religious pluralism have many different definitions, depending on the person’s interpretation of the word and where the person gets the definition. Every person of every faith and the people without a faith can have a different definition for tolerance and for pluralism. Diana L. Eck, the director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, gives a clear definition for pluralism. Pluralism is a two way street of dialogue, knowledge, understanding, and active participation (Eck 2 “From Diversity”). Pluralism is not meant to be an assimilation of religions or that a person of any faith has to believe all religious paths are true. Religious Tolerance is the continuous congruent relations betw...
On April 30, 1789, George Washington became the United Stated of America first president. When he took the oath he asked that the Bible be opened to Deuteronomy 28 and after the oath he added, “So help me God.” (1)This is only one example in my opinion of how I believe our nation was founded on Christian principles. The nation’s capital is filled with religious monuments and religious imagery yet, we as a nation look to these structures as a political homage.
Thomas, Oliver "Buzz". "How To Keep The 'United' In United States: Coping With Religious Diversity In The World's First 'New' Nation." Church & State Feb. 2007: 19+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Burns, Thomas J. Canonical Texts: Selections from Religious Wisdom Traditions. San Diego, CA: Cognella/U Readers, 2012. Print.
Hawley, Helen, and Gary Taylor. "Freedom of religion in America." Contemporary Review 282.1649 (2003): 344+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.
In Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s book The Faith of Other Men he starts by describing his challenge as a teacher in Lahore. He mentions that his colleagues were, like the great majority of the students, a mix of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhns. As a Christian he and the rest of the community had to work toward the construction and maintenance of a religiously diverse community. The missionary college emphasized the message that faith was a serious and fundamental matter, that could neither be taken for granted nor dismissed. That message for Smith’s can be echoed in the oversimplified religious society of today. The religious life of humanity according to Smith is one that religiously plural, and this is true for all of us. Muslims, Hindus, Confucians, and Buddhists there no longer these far away peoples but rather they have become our neigh...
Hickean religious pluralism (HRP) aims to give a theoretical account of religious diversity; it does this by drawing on key similarities between the world religions and claiming
Thomas Paine said, “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.” In a world so diverse, it is difficult to find relationships that don’t have conflict. An abundance of these conflicts happen by narrow mindedness towards others cultures. Even though hostility and narrow-mindedness occur, that is not always the case. The possibility of unity with different people are possible, you will even find similarities that you wouldn’t have found before knowing that person.
Understanding religious beliefs other than one’s own is a key element of tolerance, since faith traditions often define a significant part of a person’s identity. In the United States, the spectrum of religious diversity is a part of our culture as a whole, and religions can sometimes be at the center of political debate. By examining these different religions we can better begin to understand what motivates certain people and learn to hopefully live together in peace.
Throughout the years, religions have come together to bring about a new age of interfaith and interconnectedness. There are countless of examples where people have adopted two or more religions as there own, seeing and respecting the relationships and similarities between the two. In hand with this, people are now beginning to understand other religions and respect their practices. There is sort of a hybrid coming about of religions, where communities will pray with each other in a sort of collaboration of respects. However, this change in religion did not come about easily, it took much strife to bring about an interconnectedness that everyone is now a part of. Now that this interconnected and respect occurs in some areas, this can open up
The Bible is the Word of God. It is God’s message for all of humanity. The Bible is divine revelation, breathed by God, written by men, and is applicable for all of humanity. In today’s world, there is controversy over if the inerrancy of the Bible and inspiration of the writers; however, there is little controversy over the simple fact of the New Testament, as a whole, itself. The Bible is not one long book, but rather, the Bible is a book consisting of various letters and manuscripts from throughout the history of mankind. A human being wrote every book of today’s Bible during various times in history. However, there is a classic divide in the books—Old and New Testament. The Old Testament is considered the Jewish Bible. This Bible was the original Scriptures during the time of Jesus and was the original Scriptures for many years. Therefore, not much controversy has risen over the assembly of the Old Testament.
We live in a world that is made up of many different types of people races religions etc. we do not live alone, borders are open you can travel and meet people from all around the world. This allows us the opportunity to get to know many people, which allows us to realize that we are all different and to respect one another all must be very tolerant.
Living in a diverse world should be something a person should be proud of. Getting to know a person’s culture and their beliefs should be a wonderful ability. Respecting one another is important, even though a lot of people still disregard that, which should discontinue. We should all start to learn how to make this world a better place,
Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences.