- Feb 5, 2002
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Within various forms of religious relativism, there is a not-so-hidden soft totalitarianism that is swiftly moving into “harder” versions with devastating real-life consequences for anyone who dares to openly resist it.
Way back in olden times, when I was still a professor of theology, one of the most ubiquitous attitudes amongst the students was that it does not matter which religion one practiced since “all religions are really saying the same thing in their essence”.
Indeed, in this view, it does not even matter if one practices a religion at all since it is possible to be a “good person” and to be “spiritual” without any religious affiliation. Furthermore, such views are expressed with extreme confidence, as if there is no need to offer arguments for them since their reasonableness is beyond dispute.
I will forgo a lengthy critique of these views since their many flaws defy easy encapsulation. Suffice it to say that ignored in all of this is the fact that the notion that “all religions are essentially the same” is itself, as we see in a variety of new ersatz spiritualities, a highly particular and disputable, theological claim about the alleged reality of a universally shared “inner religious experience” that is pre-linguistic and ineffable.
The pervasive fog of religious relativism
Continued below.
How Soft Religious Relativism Is Hardening Into Open Persecution...
Way back in olden times, when I was still a professor of theology, one of the most ubiquitous attitudes amongst the students was that it does not matter which religion one practiced since “all religions are really saying the same thing in their essence”.
Indeed, in this view, it does not even matter if one practices a religion at all since it is possible to be a “good person” and to be “spiritual” without any religious affiliation. Furthermore, such views are expressed with extreme confidence, as if there is no need to offer arguments for them since their reasonableness is beyond dispute.
I will forgo a lengthy critique of these views since their many flaws defy easy encapsulation. Suffice it to say that ignored in all of this is the fact that the notion that “all religions are essentially the same” is itself, as we see in a variety of new ersatz spiritualities, a highly particular and disputable, theological claim about the alleged reality of a universally shared “inner religious experience” that is pre-linguistic and ineffable.
The pervasive fog of religious relativism
Continued below.
How Soft Religious Relativism Is Hardening Into Open Persecution...
