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Truth

You must accept the truth from whatever source it comes.

Maimonides


Slowly but surely, the religious beliefs that we had been dragging with us in the West since the Middle Ages, were eroded with the advent of modernity and positivism. Postmodernity and its relativism put the final nails in the coffin. Suddenly, the paradigm of absolute religious truth was replaced by the acceptance of multiple religious and spiritual truths that were truths when considered in their particular contexts. Even the Roman Catholic Church had to admit that "portions of truth exist outside the Church". Clinging to an absolute religious truth is simply untenable in a globalised world. Science relies on absolute truths: a virus is a virus in every country and language regardless of any other cultural considerations. But perceived metaphysical certainties are far more complex and impossible to pin down and universalise. When it comes to religious beliefs, these are almost by definition mutually exclusive from each other: if I believe that Buddha is the way, then Christ or Bramham cannot be God, and vice versa. Religions therefore divide and fragment and turn everyone else into a heretic or an infidel. The Buddhist example is probably not the best one, since Buddhism isn't terribly zealous with its dogmas and isn't concerned about converting other faiths. The main culprits in this respect are Christians and Muslims, who are taught to evangelise or convert by their very religion. Jews do not evangelise and converting to Judaism is a very complicated matter, however as with all other religions, Jews also believe that their truth is the only one.


If one respects all other religious faiths including atheism, he is challenged by his own correligionaries for being an indifferentist or a relativist. This is problematic because it means that in the best situation a member of one religion will view members of other religions as being flawed, heretical and ignorant and in the worst cases, this thinking could lead to religious persecution and murder. 
John Dominic Crossan, former Roman Catholic priest and prominent scholar of early Christianity is known for his critical approach to the historical Jesus and the origins of Christianity. Crossan argues that Jesus was a radical social reformer who emphasized the Kingdom of God as a present reality rather than a future hope. He often contrasts the historical Jesus with the Christ of faith, suggesting that traditional interpretations of Jesus have been shaped by later theological developments. Crossan goes as far as to imply that the biblical stories were meant as stories with moral and educational purposes and not to be taken literally.

This of course reduces Christianity to a mythos rather than as a religion offering salvation. But the only way to follow a religious belief whilst being accepting of different beliefs might be to adopt a mythicist stance. 

The truth cannot be known, regardless of the amount of faith that one might have. It is the contextualization of any given faith within the existence of different faiths, all mutually exclusive, what presents the best argument against fundamentalism. One alternative would be to pursue this to its logical conclusion and follow the 
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted " motto of the Chaoites, this is brave and means accepting and living side by side with nihilism. It's like a very strong blue cheese, however, not something for every metaphysical palate. Certainly not mine, anyhow.


The aim must be to seek union and not division amongst us all. Here, religions as we commonly understand them fail miserably, though it's true that ecumenical, worldwide movements such as the World Community for Christian Meditation and their emphasis on meditation and not on dogma, show us a new way to understand the Christian faith. Perhaps other religions also have similar movements. 

The key is to find a system that affords a genuine respect and appreciation for each other's culture, religion and for our shared humanity. 

In this regard, we are back in Masonic territory....Freemasonry offers an all inclusive platform for people from different religions to meet and fraternise. 

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