coexistence
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while now; just didn’t take the time to do so until today.
My husband is extremely choosy about bumper stickers. For years, he wanted no bumper stickers at all on any of our vehicles; nothing cute or funny or declaring an eclectic interest or fandom. But a while ago I found a pair of bumper stickers that he actually endorsed putting on both our vehicles. They look like this:
If for some reason you can’t see the image, it’s the word “coexist” with the ‘C’ made out of the crescent of Islam, the ‘o’ being the pentacle of Wicca, the ‘e’ being part of the famous scientific equation e=mc2, the Jewish Star of David being used for the ‘x’, the ‘i’ dotted with the wheel symbol of Buddhism, the ‘s’ made from the yin-yang symbol of Taoism, and the ‘t’ made from a Christian cross.
A one-word message, proclaiming the idea of coexistence between different religions. People of different faiths coexisting in peace, instead of near-constant conflict. It’s available online at http://www.stampandshout.com/shop/bumper-stickers/coexist.php
BTW, another version of this sticker-one I would have bought if I’d seen it first instead of the version sold in a local curio store-is available here: http://carryabigsticker.com/coexist.htm
It’s a lovely idea, isn’t it? True coexistence between people of different religions. But I have to admit here that I don’t have much hope of it actually happening, not any time soon.
Because to really and peacefully coexist, takes acceptance. Not just bare tolerance, which tends to evaporate at the first sign of trouble, but acceptance. In this case, accepting that the other person’s religion is equally as valid as your own.
And that’s just not going to happen with people who insist that their religion is the One Truth, and that their way is the One Way, the only way to Righteousness.
In order to truly accept that someone else’s religion is valid, you’d have to admit that your own religion isn’t the absolute One Truth, and it’s not the only way to Righteousness.
And in order to do that, you’d first have to admit that maybe the founders of your religion actually got a few things wrong, even if they really meant well.
And at least in the Christian denominations, Doubt is considered the Enemy of Faith. Practitioners are encouraged to believe without question, and in the face of all evidence to the contrary.
For example, there are some Christians who still stubbornly believe that the Earth was created in only 6 days and just a few thousand years ago, rather than millions of years ago. And even more Christians, plenty of them, still firmly believe that their God once flooded out the entire planet with 40 days of rain, and one man’s giant ark somehow held two members of every species on the planet-and repopulated their niche in Nature from just those two members, without the usual consequences of severe inbreeding.
People who steadfastly believe in their faith’s teachings to the point of rejecting scientific evidence to the contrary, are even more apt to reject the teachings of another faith, and regard the practitioners of that faith as poor misguided/deluded fools, who really should be shown the Truth and the Light as soon as possible. Even if those followers of other faiths also practice kindness towards others and basic respect for human rights; that’s not really good enough.
I still remember the lesson from Sunday School about the Proverbs verse “even the plowing of the wicked is sin”; that was explained as “wicked” people being unbelievers in general, and that yes, even when they did something so wholesome as plowing their fields to raise crops for food, that was considered sinful because they were unbelievers. The analogy given in the reading supplement was that of a man making fruit salad, mixing it by hand… while said hands were covered in leprous sores. (Not washed clean by the blood of Christ, you see.) Yep, that sorta stuff just shouts out how tolerant some folks are, eh?
So no, I don’t have too much hope of true coexistence. It just won’t happen until the priests and religious leaders of each faith start really talking about coexisting, not just the political leaders.
But I still have some hope. I think that maybe, just maybe… if enough of the followers start talking to their leaders about coexisting, and showing that they can do it… the religious leaders will scramble around to the new point of view and start proclaiming it from their pulpits, in order to keep leading their flocks in the direction some of them were already going.
It’s worth hoping for, anyway. And acting on, if you can. Even if it’s just by daring to ask other religious folks if they’ll publicly support a message of coexistence.