I got interested in Mr. Don's second choice for a paper, the Exclusivity of Christ thing, and did some reading. I found this well-written blog at www.redeemingculture.com with an article that specifically addresses that theological issue from an evangelical perspective.
http://www.redeemingculture.org/2005/09/03/toward-a-theology-of-world-religions/
I'm not so much interested in figuring out what I think about this doctrine as I am about discussing the context of pluralism and postmodernism, which is something I know more about.
I personally have a problem with the simple-minded relativism of some postmodernist thinkers. That is to say, I don't think all belief systems are equally good. I definitely think that democracy is a better system of government than theocracy or monarchy.
It gets a little trickier when comparing religious belief systems, because one can always argue (as Mr. Don does) that when people who call themselves Christian do horrible things in the name of their religion, they really aren't practicing the true faith.
Isn't that essentially the same argument that peaceful Muslims make about the Islamic extremists? The "true" Muslims say the extremists, the terrorists, and suicide bombers misinterpret the teachings of the prophet Mohammed found in the Koran.
We can argue till the cows come how whether or not the Muslim apologists are correct in their assessment of "true" Islam versus a corruption of their faith by the terrorists. I'm no scholar in Arabic and the Koran, so I can't tell you what it REALLY says or how one should go about interpreting it.
I am somewhat of a scholar in the Bible, and I know it's possible to misinterpret certain scriptures to the detriment of yourself and others. Take, for example, the hyperbole about cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye if they offend against God. There have been a number of prominent Christians in history who have taken Matt. 19:12 quite literally and castrated themselves. Just because they got something terribly wrong, can we say these dickless wonders aren't Christians?
Or what about that hyperbole about having to "hate" your father or mother in order to follow Christ. Many of us here took that quite literally and sinned against the fifth commandment.
It seems to me that religion is very much bound up in culture--so much so, that it's hard to pull the two things apart. I'm the first to admit that my culture is messed up and has problems--I'm not cool with rampant materialism, abortion, violence, 1 in every 4 children growing up in poverty, and any number of things that are the fruit of my culture.
Nevertheless, my culture has given me many advantages, including an education, the rule of law, and a measure of freedom from material want. I don't go to bed hungry.
You just can't tell me that my lot in life doesn't beat that of an Afghani woman, who suffers in large part because of what many Muslims in that country think the Koran really teaches as being the true religion of Islam.
By the way, 200 years ago my lot in life in the good old USA would have been a whole lot worse because of what many Christians in this country thought the Bible really teaches about the place of women in the world. Talk about a book that can be interpreted in a way that makes the lives of women miserable!
This ping-pong ball of relativism keeps going back and forth in my head, yet I still think there are universal standards by which we can evaluate belief systems and the way of life that attaches to those beliefs. I call these universal standards humanitarianism. If you look into humanitarian principles, you'll see they're based on assumptions about the dignity of the individual. You can also see how Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions have contributed to their development.