Hinduism.
Meet together, speak together, let your minds be of one accord, as the Gods
of old, being of one mind, accepted their share of the sacrifice. May your counsel
be common, your assembly common, common the mind, and the thoughts of these
united. A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your common oblation.
Let your aims be common, and your hearts of one accord, and all of you be of
one mind, so you may live well together. (Rig Veda 10.191.204)
May we unite in our minds, unite in our purposes, and not fight against the divine spirit within us. (Atharva Veda 7.52.1-2)
Native American Religions.
My children, war fear, and disunity have brought you from your villages to this
sacred council fire. Facing a common danger, and fearing for the lives of your
families, you have yet drifted apart, each tribe thinking and acting only for
itself. Remember how I took you from one small band and nursed you into many
nations. You must reunite now and act as one. No tribe alone can withstand our
savage enemies, who care nothing about the eternal law, who sweep upon us like
the storms of winter, spreading death and destruction everywhere.
My children, listen well. Remember that you are brothers, that the downfall
of one means the downfall of all. You must have one fire, one pipe, one war
club. (Hiawatha, Onondaga Tradition)
Christianity
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties
of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is
the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)
Part I of this text is organized around themes common to all of the world's religions. Passages of scripture are used to discuss the themes. The selection of themes and passages is aimed at the improvement of mutual respect and understanding. This work presents a view of the world's religions that encourages their acceptance as multiple traditions flowing from the same spirit of God. The common language of religion is the spirit of God that pervades and gives life to the world's scriptures. The various religions are like lamps through which the light of guidance radiates. It is the same light regardless of the lamp.
The premise in this work concerning scriptural interpretation is that we as individuals do not have the authority to dictate to anyone else the intent or meaning of any scripture. We should all be given room to express our understandings and perspectives. Each of us knows the will of God as it pertains to us through our communion with Him. And each of us must ultimately answer to God for how well we listen. The judgment of God as it pertains to anyone else belongs to God.
In the context of human interaction, we must admit our own fallibility and seek consensus about what we jointly choose to do about our common concerns. In a society with multiple religious belief systems, we must at least permit peaceful and mutually beneficial social interaction through civility. Tolerance for religious differences is a common space for meeting, speaking, and acting together. It is held in place by a suspension of disbelief in much the same manner that we suspend disbelief in order to enjoy a story, play, or movie plot that we do not believe could happen. We set aside our disagreement with the storyteller. In as much as none of us is the author of reality, and our view of it is an image compared to reality itself, to each of us the other's view may appear as a fantasy. Religious tolerance can be viewed as a rational ordering of priorities in the human world so that we may peacefully work and live together without having to agree on the particulars of our differing conceptions concerning trust in God.
This book, however, seeks unity beyond religious tolerance. It promotes reasoned and sincere experience of the common ground provided by the world's scriptures.
Meet together, speak together, let your minds be of one accord, as the Gods of old, being of one mind, accepted their share of the sacrifice. May your counsel be common, your assembly common, common the mind, and the thoughts of these united. A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your common oblation. Let your aims be common, and your hearts of one accord, and all of you be of one mind, so you may live well together. (Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.191.204)
This passage is an admonition and an invocation for unity, which rests upon the sanction and example of the "Gods of old." The Gods of our ancestors are of one mind. The Messengers of the past "accepted their share of the sacrifice" to unify the peoples of the past. It is our time to contribute to the unity of the people. The passage admonishes us to be unified as the Messengers are. The images and theologies that man has constructed of God are infinitely varied. Every culture and every individual carries a unique understanding of God. Our cultural and personal concepts of God also change over time. As we mature, our concepts of God incorporate a deeper set of experiences with life. The reality of God is not shaped by our images of Him. Only our concepts change. When God makes Himself known to us, it is the same God that communicates with everyone albeit our circumstances and understandings are infinitely varied.
As a global community of nations, we are facing very serious problems that arise from our different faith traditions and the concepts we hold of God. Assumptions about our capacity to make judgments about other's relationships with God based on their religion can cause serious barriers to community. It can also lead to violence. The voices of fanaticism are shrill and destructive. Wisdom from the Onondaga Tradition is both an example of the use of religion to bind people together in a defensive war effort, and applicable to our need to unite against the voices of religious fanaticism.
My children, war fear, and disunity have brought you from your villages to this sacred council fire. Facing a common danger, and fearing for the lives of your families, you have yet drifted apart, each tribe thinking and acting only for itself. Remember how I took you from one small band and nursed you into many nations. You must reunite now and act as one. No tribe alone can withstand our savage enemies, who care nothing about the eternal law, who sweep upon us like the storms of winter, spreading death and destruction everywhere….My children, listen well. Remember that you are brothers, that the downfall of one means the downfall of all. You must have one fire, one pipe, one war club. (Native American Religions. Hiawatha, Onondaga Tradition)
In the past, religion has aided in efforts to galvanize people in a defensive struggle against the assaults of their enemies. Warriors risked their lives in the defense of their communities. The world community of nations disseminated from one human evolution. It is now converging into a single economically, politically, and socially interdependent community. The technology of war has become a threat to the existence of human community. Human beings now possess the destructive force capable of annihilating human life altogether. The preservation of human life requires that we develop consultative and legislative processes to resolve difficulties and provide for the security and welfare of all nations. "May we unite in our minds, unite in our purposes, and not fight against the divine spirit within us" (Hinduism. Atharva Veda 7.52.1-2).
Citizens of all nations now face a common enemy in religious fanaticism and intolerance. The beginning of a common space within which we can unite requires that we all admit that none of us speaks for God when we are interpreting scripture. The "one war club" that we must collectively embrace is commitment to the unity and well being of humankind under the banner of unity in diversity. None of us can take God's place in determining who is closest to Him.
Unity in the context of diverse understandings of God is sanctioned by all of the scriptures of the world's religions. Diversity is integral to the nature of reality. "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (Christianity. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7). No two grains of sand or snowflakes are identical in all of creation. Diversity is also an essential characteristic of human society.