No*s
Captain Obvious
I would like see what people think of the following excerpt from the book named for the above subject title:
"Love, forgiveness, caring and generosity are important core beliefs for many religions. Loyalty to one God is uniquely important to Christians, Muslims and Jews. Eastern religions respect all of nature and believe everything is interconnected. The almost universal flaw in different relgions is the followers' belief that their religion is right while other religions are wrong. In my mind, this is one of the biggest obstacles our world has to overcome if we want to live harmoniously. Only a few religions respect other religions, believe in a united humanity, and try to live these beliefs."
Okay, what I am asking people is what do you think of that paragraph? Is there any hope that religions will accept each other? Do you think they will ever accept each other?
Honestly, it strikes me as irrational nonsense. Let's apply the standard to politics: "We would have a much better world if people and parties just stopped believing that their view is the right view". Well, it wouldn't work. Some view ends up being legislated, but not all, because they are mutually exclusive (one cannot be a free market capitalist and a socialist, and someone arguing a mixed economy really argues neither; one cannot believe in segregation and equality).
Let's try it with day to day business: is the sale's wording up for debate if it says a dozen eggs for $.50? If we try and buy some and are charged $5, we have something to say about it, and we believe we are right.
When two people say contradictory things about reality, we can't both be right. One person, or both, are wrong. This practice in religion draws up from the way we live. If it works in one sphere, it works in another. I wonder if the author is willing to say "We're both right" when he's dramatically overcharged at the store.
What I said doesn't undermine tolerance, either. Tolerance is, well, tolerating things, and we do not tolerate what we like. That is, it is a "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.", as the dictionary says. It has nothing to do with accepting or agreeing with. I am tolerant, but I am not relativist.