Livingstone Thompson A FEW years ago the Governor-General, Sir Howard Cooke, proclaimed that October 2 each year should be observed as interfaith day. It is clear, however, that the religious community in Jamaica has not taken cognisance of this proclamation. In this article I want to put forward some ideas relating to the issue of interfaith relations under the heading of religious pluralism, to get a conversation going between representatives of the different religious communities.
THE RISE OF THEOLOGIES
OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
The second half of the 20th century has witnessed a concerned attempt among Christian theologians in the West to come to terms with the growing incidence of religious pluralism. The recognition that the claims of other religions could no longer be overlooked in Christian theological discourse was an inevitable development from the undercutting of traditional claims to Christian authority, which was achieved principally during the Enlightenment period (about 1700-1800) where rationalism emerged as the pre-eminent basis for adjudicating between truth claims.
However, in addition to the levelling effect of the Enlightenment on religion, there were two other factors that hastened the drive to develop a viable theology of religious pluralism. One was the result of the missionary enterprises that took place over the previous two centuries. Much to the consternation of the missionaries, the religious worlds of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, in particular, were not caves of error and ignorance as it was construed in the European missionary thrust. What the missionaries found mainly in Asia and Africa was that these religious traditions were successful in sustaining the lives of millions of people and seemed impervious to Christian evangelism.
In 1887, speaking at the Centennial Anniversary of the Moravian Society for Propagating the Gospel, Rev. Morris Leibert noted that "Asia continues to be a stronghold of systems and beliefs whose worth and strength must be acknowledged."
Sixty years later when writing about the difficulty in propagating the gospel in Suriname, one Moravian missionary wrote:
"Our mission work has not made any appreciable progress among these British Indians. ... Two trends can be observed. There are pious Mohammedans or Hindus who reject Christianity: either because they consider themselves superior to it or because they see no difference between Christianity and Mohammedanism."
The realisation of the internal strength and cohesion of the other religions led early 19th century theologians and missionaries to plead for justice, courtesy and love when dealing with the other religions. Theologians, for example Frederick Maurice (1805-1872), began to argue that the encounter with other religious traditions might even offer correctives to Christian theological formulations. The theologies of pluralism that developed have built on this earlier awareness.
The other factor that has affected religious attitudes in the West is the rapid increase in the presence of other religious traditions in the metropolitan areas of Europe and North America as a result of increased emigration towards the end of the colonial era. Every major city in Europe and North America is home to thousands of people of other faiths. Encountering people of other religious traditions is not the esoteric privilege of missionaries far a-field but a day-to-day reality for the ordinary lay Christian. The Caribbean itself is a melting pot of all kinds of African, Asian, European, American and Caribbean religious expressions.
In a real sense, the theologies of pluralism that developed were aimed at giving theological content to the de facto plural approach that people were already taking to their religious faith. On one hand, they were seeking to justify the openness and tolerance with which Christians approached people of other faiths, or on the other hand, they were seeking to remind Christians that the uniqueness of the Christian faith should not be compromised in the interest of good relations among neighbours.
APPROACHES TO PLURALISM
In seeking to come to terms with the new reality of religious pluralism then, a number of approaches have been developed. Formerly the approaches were referred to as exclusive, inclusive and pluralist. However, these designations have proven to be somewhat inaccurate. Today, the approaches can be organised into three main types. One is the approach that favours a commitment to the other religion. This approach calls attention to the difficulty of adjudicating between religious truth claims and consequently sees the religions as being virtually on par. The other approach is one that favours a commitment to one's own tradition.
This approach seeks to take seriously the questions that other faiths put to the Christian faith but sees the Christian faith as being the most plausible. A third approach, which essentially is situated between the two approaches mentioned above, is called the cultural-linguistic approach. This approach treats the religious tradition as one would a language or a culture, where the doctrines are seen as communally authoritative rules of discourse. There is a refusal here to pass judgement on the other religions because each is unique in its own way,
Each approach has its own weaknesses, especially in relation to the question of whether all religions can be the locus of divine revelation. They also fail to deal adequately with the issue of the doctrine of Christ, which is of fundamental importance in the relationship between Christianity and the other religions.
It seems though, that the big challenge we face is to be able to decide which religion is least responsible for perpetuating violence and hatred of others. As we consider the meaning of interfaith day, Christians in Jamaica are challenged to re-think the attitudes we have to people of other faiths, bearing in mind that it may not be possible to achieve peace in Jamaica until there is a commitment to change the language we use to describe each other.
Livingstone Thompson is President of the Executive Board of the Moravian Church in Jamaica. e-mail: Livingstone Thompson@oceanfree.net
