Sunday, March 29, 2009

Common ground among several world religions

Recently, The Atlantic ran a religion piece, "One World, Under God," about how "history suggests a happier outcome" for politics concerning the three world religions that trace their roots back to Abraham--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

For all three Abrahamic faiths, then, tolerance and even amity across ethnic and national bounds have a way of emerging as a product of utility; when you can do well by doing good, doing good can acquire a scriptural foundation. This flexibility is heartening for those who believe that, in a highly globalized and interdependent world, the vast majority of people in all three Abrahamic faiths have more to gain through peaceful coexistence and cooperation than through intolerance and violence. If ancient Abrahamics could pen laudable scriptures that were in their enlightened self-interest, then maybe modern Abrahamics can choose to emphasize those same scriptures when it’s in their interest.
The article takes a notably Christian angle (probably because of that religion's prominence and political influence in America) and does a nice job looking at biblical scholarship about the Gospels and the letters of Paul to trace the "early" message of Christianity.
(Photo by beggs; used by permission.)

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