MenuIntroduction to religious diversity:
The variety of
religious beliefs worldwide, and
how people and religious groups handle it.
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Overview of religious diversity:According to David Barrett et al, editors of the "World
Christian Encyclopedia: A comparative survey of churches and religions - AD 30 to 2200," there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a
total of 270 large religious groups, and many tens of thousands of faith groups (denominations, traditions, etc.). 34,000 separate Christian faith groups have been identified worldwide. 1 These tens of thousands of religions and faith groups teach very different theological beliefs about:
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The existence, non-existence, and nature of God.
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The origin of the universe, Earth, and its living species.
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Ethical behaviors and religious beliefs expected of individual members.
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People's responsibilities towards other humans, other species, and the environment.
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Salvation -- whether it is needed, how it is attained; whether it can be lost; whether a person can recover it if it is lost.
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Events that ocurr after a person's death. In various religions and philosophies, this can take the form of eternal reward in Heaven, eternal torture in Hell, rebirth leading to another lifetime on earth, or annihilation.
- etc.
In addition to the theological teachings of a religion, there are also the teachings by religions on specific topics, like:
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The status of women,
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The morality of abortion.
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Whether marriage equality -- allowing same-sex couples to marry -- should be promoted, ignored, or fought.
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The status of persons with minority sexual orientations and gender identities, including the LGBT community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender persons, and transsexuals),
- The status of racial, and other minorities,
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The death penalty,
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Corporal
punishment of children,
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Religious freedom of belief, assembly, proselyzing,
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Religious freedom to oppress and denigrate others (a rapidly growing field)
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The religious freedom for retail outlets, etc. who do business with the general public to discriminate against others -- in violation of the Golden Rule. This is another rapidly growing conflict in the U.S.
Such diversity of religious beliefs naturally raises the question of where religious
truth is to be found. To many believers, absolute religious truth is of paramount importance. To some, doubting the validity the teachings of one's faith group is considered a serious sin. Most believers appear to regard their their own denomination or faith group as possessing the fullness of religious truth. They view other faith groups and religions
as teaching at least some error. From a logical point of view, this is clearly irrational. The probability that a given person's religious group possesses the only perfectly true belief system from among many tens of thousands of belief systems active in the world, is very close to zero. However, many people beleive exactly that. Some are even willing to ride airplanes into buildings in order to promote their beliefs. Others consider all but their own religion to be in serious error and sometimes to be in opposition to the truth.
Within some fundamentalist and other evangelical Christianity denominations, other religions are sometimes referred to as
being led by Satan or by some of his demons.
Ways of looking at other religious beliefs:There are at least four specific ways by which one can view other beliefs, denominations and religions:  |
Extreme Particularism: This is the belief that one's
own faith group, alone, possesses all of the truth, often as revealed by God. Other faith groups and religions worship demons and are led
by Satan. Few, if any, of their members will be saved.
| | Exclusivism: One's own group possesses the full truth as God revealed
it to them. Other religious
groups are in serious error, and place the latter's members in grave
peril regarding salvation.
In recent years, some theologians have objected to the term "exclusivism"
because of its negative connotation. They prefer the term "particularism"
Within Christianity, this belief system takes two main forms:
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Agnostic Particularism: Salvation is attained through belief
in Christ alone as Lord and Savior. However, it may be possible for
those who have not heard of Christianity, the Gospel or Jesus Christ to
avoid Hell and be saved and attain Heaven after death.
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Traditional Particularism: Salvation is attained only through
an explicit knowledge and faith in Christ. The vast majority of humans
-- even those who have never heard of Jesus, Christianity, or the Gospel message -- will spend eternity being
tortured in Hell
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Inclusivism: One's own group possesses the truth; other religious
groups contain parts of the truth. The latter's believers are less likely to be
saved.
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Pluralism: All group's beliefs and practices are valid,
when interpreted within their own culture. Salvation is for all.
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Speaking very generally, within most of the world's main religions:
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The liberal/progressive wing accepts pluralism,
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The conservative wing teaches inclusivism, and
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The very conservative wing believes in exclusivism, and
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The fundamentalist wing teaches extreme particularism. |
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Meanings of "religious pluralism:"Unfortunately, the term "religious pluralism" has multiple, largely unrelated, meanings. It can refer to :
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The belief that the teachings of two or more religions may conflict, but be equally valid within their own culture. This is the meaning that we generally use in this web site.
- The belief that truth exists both in one's own religion and in other religions as well.
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A synonym of Perennialism: the concept that different religions may have claims that seem to be very different, but actually are based on a single, universal truth.
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A synonym of Ecumenism and Ecumenicalism: promoting cooperation and understanding either among different religions or among faith groups within a single religion.
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A synonym of religious diversity: that there exists a variety of religious beliefs in a given country or geographic area. Thus, religious pluralism in North America -- in the sense of the U.S. and Canada being religiously diverse -- is a statement of fact.
An alternate way of looking at religious diversity from a personal viewponit:A person's religious affiliation is often an accident of birth, as shown by this thought-provoking image donated by Global Caring Ethics: 
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If a person is born in Saudi Arabia, they would almost certainly hold very conservative Muslim beliefs in adulthood; in Alabama: conservative Protestant Christian; in Thailand: Buddhist; in much New England and Europe: secular. One's religious beliefs can be the result of pure chance. If a stork is blown off course by a wind while delivering babies, the baby might well grow up into a very different religion.
Reference used in the above essay:The hyperlink below was used to prepare the
above essay, but is not necessarily still valid today.
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David B. Barrett, et al., "World Christian Encyclopedia : A
Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World," Oxford
University Press, (2001). Read
reviews or order this book
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Copyright © 2001 to 2014 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2014-AUG-07
Latest update and review: 2014-AUG-07
Author: B.A. Robinson 
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