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When faced with the opposite or different views of the world – whether religion, politics or other topics – how many of us truly listen to the other? How many of us are willing to examine our own certainties or perceptions of ‘truth’ to consider another’s? Are our own beliefs so fragile that we can’t listen to or gain insight from differing views of the same issue?
In today’s partisan climate, intolerance and divisiveness run deep. All sides entrenched in their own righteousness – their own truth. Each side vilifies the other. Neither side is respectful. Neither side is willing to work with the other. Neither side is willing to see the other as anything but the enemy. The self-righteous rhetoric that flies back and forth takes no prisoners. The world is black and white – with no shades of gray. Always highlighting their differing viewpoints, they ignore the areas where they are in agreement or in areas that they have similar beliefs. Neither side listens to the other. Neither side is willing to find their similarities of belief or thoughts.
Too often, people of faith act the same way. Entrenched in the rightness of their personal beliefs; they dismiss or vilify other faiths and beliefs that don’t match their own. So sure of the rightness of their faith, when others speak of faith different from their own, they don’t listen. Refusing to learn about other faiths; refusing to have a conversation about the parts of their faith they have in common. They refuse to acknowledge their common roots or traditions. They refuse to see where they have common beliefs, morals, ethics and practices. They shut their ears, their minds and their hearts to others.
A couple of times a month, I attend services with my husband at his church. A church that isn’t a Unitarian Universalist one. I have done this since before we married. People frequently ask me how I can sit through sermons from a faith I don’t belong too. How can I listen to the ‘rhetoric’ being preached at the other church? They are very shocked, taken aback from my answer – “Many times I receive more from those services than I do from my faiths services.”
Most sermons I have found, talk of what it means to be human. They talk to the universal struggles that all people experience. Life, death, change, relationships, morals, ethics – the hard questions we all struggle with, in our own life. How to live a moral and ethical life. How to move past pain. How to grow closer to the holy. All faiths offer answers or paths to help us to overcome life’s challenges. Those answers or paths might be rooted in ancient scriptures and beliefs; all offer a guide to help us navigate successfully through life.
In visiting other faith’s services, I am challenged to think about my own beliefs and ‘truths’. It causes me to delve deeper and examine my long-held beliefs. It helps bring clarity to my faith; it helps me grow as a person. It enriches my life.
Just a thought from the pew.