Following up on last week’s post about being open-minded and inquisitive, my thoughts this week are a reflection about inter-religious understanding and collaboration.

Right now, on both sides of the Atlantic, fundamentalist religions’ polarization is fueling conflict and aggression. I am thinking about the politicization of Christianity with white Christian nationalism in the United States; the Hindutva movement in India leveraging Hindu identity to demonize and marginalize religious minorities; religious divisions within Europe concerning moral issues like LGBTQ+ rights;  the extreme religious polarization in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and the global impact of social media in fostering religious extremism by connecting like-minded extremist people across borders.

Inter-religious education, tolerance, and understanding are crucial for the survival of humanity. For our survival and that of our grandchildren.

As I have often stressed, theological understandings do change over time. My own theological understanding of world religions began to change when I was a budding theologian and was greatly influenced by Nostra Aetate the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Non-Christians issued on October 28, 1965.

“In our time,” Nostra Aetate stressed, “when day by day humankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the church examines more closely its relationship to non-Christian religions. In the church’s task of promoting unity and love among all men and women, indeed among all nations, it considers above all, in this declaration, what people have in common and what draws them to fellowship. One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth. One also is their final goal: God. God’s providence, God’s manifestations of goodness, God’s saving design extended to all people.”

French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), one of the principal architects of modern social science, argued that religion is the most fundamental social institution, and, in one form or another, will always be a part of social life. Today, some 85% of people around the globe identify with a religion. While there are around 10,000 distinct religions in the world today, over three-quarters of the global population adheres to one of these four – Christianity (31%), Islam (24%), Hinduism (15%), and Buddhism (7%).

Another 7% of the global population identify with religions with much smaller followings. Judaism, though one of the three major Abrahamic religions (along with Christianity and Islam) is represented by just 0.2% of the global population (15.8 million), most of whom reside in Israel (7.2 million) and the U.S.A. (7.5  million). Had the Holocaust not wiped out over a third of world Jewry during World War II, it is likely the Jewish population would be twice the size it is today.

While I remain a strongly committed Christian, my own theological understanding has moved well beyond religious exclusivism: the theological position that maintains the absolute necessity of faith in Christ for all people. Exclusivists insist that there is no salvation in non-Christian religions. This position, today, is most often identified with conservative evangelical Christians.

Considering the world’s religions, I suggest we have to work together in what some of my favorite late twentieth century theologians like Karl Rahner (1904-1984), Hans Küng (1928-2021), Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009), and David Tracy (1939-2025) have called religious pluralism. We need to move beyond a simple tolerance for other religions and develop a positive appreciation for what they have to offer.

It is not always easy to be accepting of other religions. A friend reminded me last week that it was ten years ago, on December 15, 2015, that Larycia Hawkins, the first female African-American tenured professor at the evangelical Christian college, Wheaton College, in Illinois, was suspended from her job as professor after she vowed to wear a hijab for Advent in solidarity with Muslims and created a social media storm by posting on Facebook that she agreed with Pope Francis that “Christians and Muslims worship the same God.”

On February 8, 2016, Wheaton College and Professor Hawkins issued a joint statement that they had “reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways.” On March 3, 2016, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia announced that Lyricia Hawkins would be appointed as the the University of Virginia’s Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow.

Lyricia Hawkins’ story was later documented in A New York Times Magazine feature, on October 13, 2016: “The Professor Wore a Hijab in Solidarity – Then Lost Her Job.”

Nevertheless, today we all need to move from just inter-religious tolerance to collaboration. From collaboration to genuine appreciation. From appreciation to learning from the other. We are all on this journey together.

Global understanding, anchored in inter-religious dialogue and appreciation, is essential for everyone’s life and future.

• Jack

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT MY EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED

New Email address: john.dick@kuleuven.be

Have a fine week end.

– Jack

This week, I am thinking about social change in our contemporary world. When people become closed-minded, polarization increases. Today, around the world people are grappling with the difficulties posed by the onset of pernicious polarization, pushing people to divide themselves into distinct close-minded camps, anchored in fear, anxiety, and rage. What gets lost is care, compassion, and civility.

The historical Jesus was keenly aware of the dangers of polarization. In Matthew 12:25, he alerted the closed-minded polarizing people in his days, saying “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.”

Today especially we need to promote being open-minded and inquisitive in our family and friendship groups, and in our social groups, and church communities. It is urgently important.

Being open-minded means recognizing and considering alternative viewpoints or opinions on a given topic. It involves being open-minded and willing to listen to different ideas without at once dismissing them. It means learning how to live and share life with others. It involves realizing that we all have much to learn about life in all its dimensions. I would emphasize that being open-minded means being less judgmental and more inquisitive and considerate. Open-minded people consider multiple perspectives before reaching a decision.

Sometimes, being open-minded can be very tough. It shakes a person loose from beliefs and values once so comforting. I once believed and felt secure in my belief that Jesus’ disciples were only men, and for that reason only men could become priests. I thought about becoming a priest as well. I pictured the historic Jesus ordaining the Apostles at the Last Supper. But then, thanks to a university professor who kept asking questions and encouraged me to ask questions, I started asking my own questions. Very quickly I learned that some of my certainties had no historic foundation.

Today I know that Jesus’ disciples were men AND women. As an historian I have learned as well that women presided at Eucharistic liturgies in the early Christian communities. I have also learned that the historic Jesus did not ordain anyone because ordination did not exist during his lifetime. In fact, in the first three centuries of Christianity, we have no direct evidence of an ordination ceremony.

Now I realize that on our human life journeys we do learn new things, by being open to the knowledge and insights of other people. Being open-minded learners, we do need to continually adjust our understandings and beliefs.

Being an open-minded believer truly enriches a person’s life. I can think of several ways:

• Being open-minded and inquisitive enables one to explore and discover. Being an open-minded person allows one to experience new ideas and fresh thoughts that stimulate personal growth as they challenge old visions, understandings, and beliefs. It can be a very liberating look at one’s contemporary world through an open mind. Remember Paul in First Corinthians: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
• Being open-minded and inquisitive opens a person to an awareness of divinity. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in their own little world that they miss the experience of God’s being with us, traveling with us, and loving us. This is spirituality which involves the recognition of a sense that there is something greater than oneself, something more to being human, and that the greater whole of which we are part is divine in nature.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive enables one to observe and critique the honesty and truthfulness of what others say. This is so important today when so much ignorance and falsehood are presented as reliable realities. We all need to be critical observers and courageous critics. I often think about the admonition of the Belgian Joseph Cardijn (1882-1967) “Observe, Judge, Act” — the three-stage social action process that involves observing and understanding a situation, evaluating it using principles and values, and then taking proper action to improve or change it. Cardijn, who became a cardinal a couple years before his death, is best known for his lifelong dedication to social activism.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive promotes personal change and transformation. Opening our minds to new ideas allows us the opportunity to change what we think as well as to change our view of the world. This does not mean one will necessarily change basic beliefs. It does mean one has to be open and respectful to people with differing perspectives. We work together. We must work together because our survival depends on it.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive does make oneself vulnerable. This is scarier. In agreeing to have an open-minded view of the world, we acknowledge that we do not know everything. We accept that there are possibilities we may not have considered. This vulnerability can be both terrifying and exhilarating. The jar is either half full or half empty. It depends on one’s perspective. I prefer to say that it is only half full.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive helps one see and acknowledge personal mistakes. With an open mind one begins to see things from others’ perspectives. One can recognize the mistakes one has made. From time to time, we all fail and fall. The challenge is to acknowledge it and then get back up again and continue the journey, anchored in the virtues of Christian humility and courage.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive strengthens oneself and gives stability. It presents a platform upon which a person can build, putting one idea on top of another. With an open mind, one learns about new things; and one uses innovative ideas to build on old ideas. In my field we call this ongoing theological development. Dangerous stuff for the old guard ecclesiastics. Nevertheless, everything a woman or a man or a child experiences adds up. It strengthens who one is and what one believes. Note well: It is extremely hard to build on experiences without having an open mind.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive helps one gain confidence. When a person really lives with an open mind, he or she develops a stronger sense of self. One can respect and appreciate but is no longer confined by the beliefs of others. Then the respectful dialogue can and should begin. It is absolutely necessary.
• Being open-minded and inquisitive promotes self-honesty. Being open-minded means admitting that one is not all-knowing. Even if one is an older theologian! Whatever “truth” one holds, each person must realize that the underlying reality in its depth has more to it than anyone realizes. This understanding creates a sense of honesty that characterizes anyone who lives with an open mind.

For some people, being open-minded and inquisitive is easy. It seems to come as effortlessly as breathing. For others, having such an open and inquisitive mind can be a challenge. But for anyone who wants to safely travel the road of life, it is essential. We remember the words of Jesus, in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

• Jack

 

I am working on a family project for a few days. This week’s post, therefore, is a guest article written by my good friend Patrick B. Sullivan, DPA. Dr. Sullivan received his BA in History/Political Science and Master of Public Administration degrees from the University of Montana, a Master of Divinity degree from the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, and his Doctor of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He has been a professor at two institutions for 12 years. He has a total of 50 + years of experience in the public sector. He is the past Director of the State Professional Development Center for the State of Montana. Currently, he is an independent consultant.

 

 

There are many groups in recent years who are apparently fascinated by the ten commandments. This is shown by their desire to have them displayed on courthouse lawns or in classrooms. It would seem prudent then, to take a closer look at the ten commandments in the context of today.

1. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall make no idols.

There are very few people today who create idols or worship some false god in the most literal sense. However, the commandment also warns us not to seek happiness or fulfillment in the wrong places. Only God and our intimate relationship with the divine can provide those. Too many seek happiness in what some happiness scholars refer to as “miswanting.”  We believe that if we get that great job, or the best car, or achieve prestige, we will be happy. Science shows us that this is not true. How many times, after achieving one of those goals do we find ourselves rather empty. When I completed my doctorate, I thought I would be happy, or at least happier. That is not the feeling I had at all. Instead, I just thought, “what’s next?”

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.

Most of us think that this is about actually cursing. It is more about falsely declaring that God said we should do something that goes against the primary commandment of love. When we claim that we can justify our uncharitable acts on the divine, we are taking God’s name in vain. How many times have we heard various preachers, politicians, or even sports figures declare that God has mandated that they should be successful, rich, or powerful? Religions have done this throughout the centuries. God’s name has been used to justify slavery, misogyny, and intolerance. Millions of people have been killed in the name of God.

3. Keep holy the sabbath.

When, exactly is the sabbath? Different Abrahamic traditions have different days.  Perhaps, it is every day. When Moses encounters God in the burning bush, he is told to remove his shoes, that he is standing on holy ground. So, keeping the sabbath holy could be seen as respecting that all of creation is holy every day. When something is holy, we respect it and treat it with care. This is especially true when we deal with others.  In the creation story in Genesis, the statement at the end of every day is “and it was good.”  After the sixth day, with the creation of humans, “it was very good.”  The seventh day was a day of rest but also a day of reflection.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

The difficult thing here is that our parents are not perfect. They make mistakes in caring for us. I know mine did. Nevertheless, they did bring us into this world. We give them respect for that reason alone. To honor them is to become the best person we can be. We stop blaming them for our own difficulties and grow. We also forgive their faults and celebrate their wise guidance.

5. You shall not kill.

Of course, actually killing someone other than in self defense is prohibited. God created us and we do not have the right to take that away. We also murder by neglect. When we look away when people are starving, we are killing them. Whenever we deprive people of what they need to live, we are killing them. When we fail to provide adequate health care, even though we have the resources, we are killing people.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

This is less about sexual activity and more about relationships. When we betray a solemn relationship, we harm the other person. We also harm the person with whom we betrayed. We are using another person for our own pleasure. The provision is about authenticity in all our relationships. Rape is a violent act more than it is a sexual one. Using another person’s body against their will is an act of adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

Taking what does not belong to us is more than a selfish act. It lays claim to something to which we are not entitled.  God has provided enough for everyone in this world. When we amass wealth while our neighbor is hungry, naked, or thirsty, we are stealing from them. There is no justification for having billionaires when others are suffering. When the uberwealthy claim that they are “self-made” they are stealing. This only shows a lack of gratitude and obligation to all those that got them to where they are today. There were parents, teachers, and other mentors who provided them with the skill to achieve. There are also all the workers that created their wealth and the infrastructure that made it possible. To make such a claim is selfish and false pride.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

This certainly includes falsely accusing someone of something they did not do. It even includes times when we did so without making sure of the facts.  More commonly, though, it includes gossip. When we pass along information about another person, we are sharing something that is not ours to share. This is especially a problem when we have not witnessed it ourselves. It doesn’t matter if it is true or not. We must ask ourselves the question of whether or not there is a good reason to share such information. Gossip is destructive within any group. It undermines trust for the target of gossip and the person who is sharing it.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

This one is a bit problematic because it implies that the neighbor’s wife is his property.  Perhaps, this needs to be understood in different ways. Again, it is about relationships. If we are looking at other people and wanting to either possess them or have them to ourselves, we are objectifying them. It also reflects a lack of gratitude for the relationship(s) we already have. It also applies to both male and female. To covet somebody is to fail to recognize their humanity.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

Coveting that which is not yours is an act of selfishness and lacking gratitude. The lack of gratitude is probably one of the biggest problems we have today. People are widely upset because they feel they should have more than they do. They want to find someone to blame because they don’t have enough. It’s okay to have things (within reason) but we need to be grateful for what we do have.

Notice that all of the commandments are about relationship. The first three are about relationship with God or the divine or the cosmos, whatever your preference. The rest are about relationship with each other. The ten commandments are properly summed up with the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord, your God with your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, … you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37)

 

 

After my post “God Thoughts,” several people ask me for “Jesus Thoughts.”

I am a strong believer in the significance of Jesus Christ and Christianity today, when human suffering, war, and hardened and hateful political polarization so characterize our contemporary life situation. The key issue for me is clarifying that being a Christian means not just talking about Jesus but living the way of Jesus – following the example of how he lived.

What emerges when we trace the Jesus images in the Gospels is a portrait of a human life in which the human opens to the Divine. In the earliest Gospel, Mark, we read: “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time is fulfilled,’ he said. ‘The Reign of God has come. Repent and believe the good news!’”  (Mark 1:15)

Most biblical scholars agree that the reality of the Reign of God lies at the very heart of Jesus’ life and message. In the text from Mark, we see the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had most likely spent some time as a follower of John the Baptizer but then recognized and responded to his own unique call from God. 

The “Reign of God” is a religious image. It is based on the metaphor of God depicted as a king. By proclaiming the Reign of God Jesus, was using figurative language that evoked the living tradition of an experience of God acting in history. For Jesus, God is not out there or up there but present and active in the lived-out events of everyday life, here and now with us. The Reign of God meant a new awareness that God’s justice would replace injustice. It meant that the poor and the marginalized would be reintegrated into society. The content of the Reign of God is reflected in Jesus’ sayings, parables, and his actions – in all the contours of his life and ministry.

Jesus experienced God’s presence and influence as close, near, and very personal. God for Jesus was not a cold-hearted taskmaster. He experienced God as an understanding, compassionate, and forgiving “Father.”  Jesus grew up in the Hebrew tradition which pictured God as male. A Hebraic anthropomorphism. God of course has no gender. God can be pictured just as much as “Mother” or “Father.”

Jesus explained life in the Reign of God very particularly in his parables. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, also known as the parable of the Neighborly Samaritan, for example, Jesus teaches a universal love that also extends to one’s enemies, whether they be personal enemies in the village or those of a particular group or nation. For Jesus the barriers between insiders and outsiders are broken down. Perhaps Christian political leaders should also be good and neighborly Samaritans?

The human Jesus opens our eyes to all that God means and enables us to see all that God is. Those who experienced Jesus experienced God’s revelation in his life. Their full understanding came after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Recall Matthew 27:53-55: “After Jesus’ resurrection…. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.’” One of my favorite post-Resurrection narratives is about the man and woman disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35): “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him…. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’”

It is through the human Jesus – “Son of Humankind” and “Son of God” — that people were enabled to experience all that the word “God” means. We find that realization is so clearly expressed in the Fourth Gospel with its strong post-Resurrection belief and understanding. Recall, for instance, these passages: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26); “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (John 8:19); “Whoever sees me sees him who sent me” (John 12:45); “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9); and finally, “[Just as God] has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9).

The Christian way of life is a life of spirituality: a journey through and with Christ into the life of God. Life in Christ is a mystery to be lived. To live in Christ is to live what the Apostle Paul called “a new creation.” 

I would emphasize that to be a Christian is not primarily to be “a religious person.” The historical Jesus was not anti-religion but religiously critical. It is important to remember that Jesus came to show us how to be truly human much more than how to be religious. In the depth of our humanity-shared-with-others we meet the living God. “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

To be a Christian is to be a whole human being; and Jesus is the portrait of that wholeness. Consider the faith system in which Jesus’ own life was nurtured. He broke religious boundaries again and again in his attempt to call people into a new humanity and to introduce them to a Divine presence manifested in the fullness of his own humanity. Anything that teaches one to hate or violate another cannot be of God. Jesus’ disciples saw and experienced in him a rare integrity. Each person whom Jesus met seemed to have the potential to become whole, to be invested with infinite worth. 

God was likened by Jesus to a wide variety of images. God was like a father who welcomed home the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). God was like a shepherd who searched for the lost sheep (Luke 15:3–7), or like a woman who swept diligently until she found a lost coin (Luke 15:8–10). The God Jesus seemed to know was one in whom all are welcome. (Matthew 11:28) 

Christian spirituality requires that one take time to sit back and contemplate. It is through quiet contemplation, not speedy data-processing, that we effectively process our experiences and truly explore the mystery of life. The contemplative mind sees reality in its wholeness not just in its parts. Jesus took time to contemplate as well. Recall when he began his ministry. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that after being baptized by John the Baptizer he retreated to the Judean Desert to pray. Through contemplation the historical Jesus came to understand his identity with God. Luke reminds us that “He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.” (Luke 5:16)

Material for our own reflection: Jesus and the mystery of life. Jesus knew joy and the camaraderie of his close friends. He also faced anger and rejection from narrow-minded religious leaders. He knew fear and anxiety. Recall his “agony in the garden” as he contemplated his own torture and death at the hands of the Romans. “Then he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and stay awake with me.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’” (Matthew 26: 38 & 39)

Jesus, who uniquely cared, served and loved, suffered at the hands of oppressive religious and political authorities. He lived the mystery of life: the Reign of God. He did not abandon God. God did not abandon him.

Jesus’ reassuring message for us is that God has not abandoned us either, although, like Jesus, we can experience dark days.

 

• Jack