In Reply to: Re: Whoah! posted by Thinker on February 04, 2008 at 18:22:11:
Ok. I wasn't sure if you were ascribing that to me, but others have so I wanted to address that notion. I guess part of what I was trying to say is that if it makes some people feel better about themselves to argue that my secular humanism is also a religion that's ok with me. However, as far as I can remember, none of the criticisms that I have leveled against religion can be applied to the secular humanist view I now favour.
I recently came across an interesting discussion of religious plurality that I think will help me not to generalize believers as all the same. It's from Global Philosophy of Religion: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001. Dr. Joseph Runzo argues that there are six distinct stances that one can take to the issue of religious diversity. These are:
• Religious Exclusivism: one’s own faith is the sole means to salvation; all other faiths are false and ineffective as approaches to the divine.
• Religious Antipathy: the facts of religious diversity undermine religious faith.
• Religious Inclusivism: one’s own faith is the most perfect representation of the divine, but other faiths are imperfect reflections of the one true faith.
• Religious Subjectivism: one’s own faith is true for oneself; others’ faiths are true for them. No particular faith can be shown to be correct; epistemologically, all faiths are on par.
• Religious Pluralism: Each of the various religious traditions represents one way in which the divine is manifested. The various faiths differ from each other because they filter the divine through historically and socially determined conceptual schemes. ‘Ultimate Reality,’ to use a term of John Hick’s (1993), is experienced in a variety of ways because we see it through diverse conceptual
schemes.
• Henofideism: One’s own religious belief deserves one’s complete adherence, but one ought to remain open-minded and respectful regarding other religious beliefs. For example, a henofideist Christian might claim that Christ is the sole route to eternal salvation, but recognizes fallibility here. Therefore, one engages with open-minded respect toward the faiths of others.
I think it's fairly obvious my own views are inline with Religious Antipathy and that I have the most problems with Religious Exclusivism, with Religious Inclusivism a close second. I can more easily converse with believers whose views are inline with the other three.