TIO Public Square
The Meaning of Truth has Changed…And that’s No Lie
by Robert P. Sellers
Diana Eck, professor of comparative religions and Indian studies at Harvard University and Director of its Pluralism Project, published an award-winning book in 2001 titled A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” has become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation. In that volume, Eck claims and then demonstrates that the United States is now the most pluralistic nation on the globe. No matter where one lives in America, it is typical to encounter people who follow other traditions, or no religious path at all.
Many Americans celebrate this religious and philosophical diversity, realizing that multiple worldviews, values, beliefs and experiences can create a more productive and interesting society. Others, however, fear what differs from the way things used to be, and they long for a return to that time when life was more familiar and comfortable, when America was “great.”
Religious Pluralism Defined
One of the most helpful contributions of Eck’s award-winning book is the way she explains and demystifies the concept of “pluralism.” She writes:
The language of pluralism is the language not just of difference but of engagement, involvement, and participation. It is the language of traffic, exchange, dialogue, and debate. [For some people, ‘pluralism’] has a bad name…. [It means] the chaos of ‘anything goes.’ It means unprincipled relativism and therefore moral decay. It means giving up on one’s own, usually Christian, truth claims in favor of an unconvincing ‘religious correctness.’
However, she explains:
Pluralism is not an ideology, not a leftist scheme, and not a free-form relativism. Rather, pluralism is the dynamic process through which we engage with one another in and through our very deepest differences.
First, pluralism is not just another word for diversity. It goes beyond mere plurality or diversity to active engagement with that plurality….
Second, pluralism goes beyond mere tolerance to the active attempt to understand the other…. Tolerance alone does little to bridge the chasms of stereotypes and fear that may, in fact, dominate the mutual image of the other.
Third, pluralism is not simply watering down differently-held beliefs to the lowest common denominator. It does not displace or eliminate deep religious commitment or secular commitments, for that matter. It is, rather, the encounter of commitments.
When I call myself a pluralist, I am not saying that I endorse a scary relativism, or am merely tolerant of people who are different from me, or water down my beliefs so that somehow they agree with the views of people who follow other spiritual or philosophical paths than I. Rather, I mean I am determined to befriend those who believe differently, so that we can understand each other better and together might work to make the world more just, peaceful and sustainable. This cooperative work will be more effective when we see and address shared problems through our own distinctive religious and ideological commitments.
An Unusual Breakfast
The table was appropriately prepared as we sat down to a meal both kosher and halal. I was meeting the guests seated on either side of me for the first time. To my left was Rabbi David Saperstein, United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom under President Obama, and to my right was Sheikh Saleh Abdullah bin Humaid, President of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia and Imam of the Grand Mosque of Mecca. As a Christian minister and Baptist professor from Texas, and Chair Elect of the convening organization hosting the meal, I sat between them. There we were: a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim, representing the three great Abrahamic religions – siblings descended from the same Semitic ancestor and each committed to belief in and submission to the One God.
Where did this unusual shared meal occur? It happened during the sixth convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, in October 2015.
The Parliament is arguably the oldest, most documented, and largest convener of religious followers on earth. Sometimes credited with originating the term “interreligious dialogue,” it provides opportunities to experience similarly significant conversations with the Religious Other which are limited only by one’s personal inclinations and her or his willingness to engage those who are different. My breakfast companions and I were not only civil to one another, but engaged genuinely, desiring, and expressing harmony despite our religious, cultural, ethnic and political differences.
The First Parliament
The original gathering in 1893 has been termed “the dawn of religious pluralism” by Richard Hughes Seager (I recommend reading his book The Dawn of Religious Pluralism: Voices from the World’s Parliament of Religions, 1893). The World’s Parliament of Religions, the precursor and model for the contemporary Parliament of the World’s Religions, was conceived to be a vital part of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair crafted to celebrate the “discovery” of the New World by Christopher Columbus and organized to rejuvenate the city of Chicago after the devastating fire of 1871.
1893 Parliament Gathering — Photo: Wikipedia
According to religious studies scholar Richard Hughes Seager:
In September of 1889, when plans for the fair were just getting under way, Charles Carroll Bonney, a Chicago lawyer and a layman in the Swedenborgian church, proposed that the Exposition Corporation sponsor a series of international congresses to complement the material triumphs and technological marvels that formed the substance of the Exposition’s displays. ‘Something higher and nobler,’ he wrote, ‘is demanded by the enlightened and progressive spirit of the age.’
Of the two hundred such congresses convened during the Exposition – focused on themes as diverse as “women’s progress, the press, history, fine arts, public health, medicine and surgery, engineering, temperance, government, social reform, and religion,” which collectively drew “an estimated seven hundred thousand people in the course of the Columbian summer of 1893” – the World’s Parliament of Religions garnered “the most attention, the most applause, and the best press according to David Burg in his book Chicago’s White City of 1893.
The Goal of the First Parliament
As Marcus Braybook recounts in his book Widening Vision: The World Congress of Faiths and the Growing Interfaith Movement, Charles Bonney’s desire was that the World’s Parliament of Religions would “unite all religion against irreligion,” and that the Golden Rule would be “the basis of this union.” His hope was that “when the religious faiths of the world recognize each other as brothers, children of one Father, whom all profess to love and serve, then and not till then, will the nations of the earth yield to the Spirit of concord and learn war no more.”
He was convinced that persons of multiple faith traditions who choose to live as neighbors could ultimately effect change and inspire good in the world. Bonney’s belief was echoed, more than a century later, in the assertion of Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Küng, who famously said that “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions.”
Parliament of Religions September 1893. On the platform (left to right) Virchand Gandhi, Anagarika Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda, G. Bonet Maury — Photo - Wikipedia
The opening day for the highly anticipated 17-day festival was September 11, 1893. The Columbian Liberty Bell tolled ten times for the great religions of the world, as they were identified at the end of the nineteenth century: three Indic Religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism); three Eastern Religions (Taoism, Confucianism, and Shintoism); and four Mediterranean Religions (Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). At that same moment, a joyous procession into the Hall of Columbus and onto the decorated stage began, creating a colorful display of distinguished spiritual figures from many diverse faiths.
As Seager poetically recreates the scene in his book The Dawn of Religious Pluralism, there were the ocher robes of Buddhist ascetics; the vermilion cloaks and turbans of Hindu swamis; the silk vestments of the Confucians, Taoists, and Shinto priests; and the somber raiment of Protestant ministers, all gathered together on the platform around a Catholic cardinal dressed in scarlet and seated upon a high chair of state.
This initial excitement did not wane over the two and a half weeks of meetings. Inspired by stirring public speeches and stimulating personal encounters, attendees went home flush with idealism and zeal. Bonney optimistically predicted, “Henceforth the religions of the world will make war, not on each other, but on the giant evils that afflict mankind.”
One reason for the high esteem with which that original meeting is held was the presence in 1893 of Swami Vivekananda, “a captivating Hindu monk [who] addressed 5,000 assembled delegates, greeting them with the words, ‘Sisters and brothers of America!’” His speech, which introduced Hinduism to America, is memorized by school children in India to this day. Swami Vivekananda became one of the most forceful and popular speakers at the first Parliament.
Swami Vivekananda and His Legacy
Swami Vivekananda — Photo: Wikimedia
From this impressive spokesperson for Asian inclusivity has come a legacy of accepting religious diversity and recognizing that multiple spiritual paths offer valid avenues for improving the world. Vivekananda made this point 125 years ago when he stood before the assembly to declare:
Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity…. But if anyone here hopes that this unity would come by the triumph of any one of these religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, ‘Brother, yours is an impossible hope.’ Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God fobid…
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: it has proved to the world that holiness, purity, and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character.
The impact of this Hindu monk upon the progressive spirit of religious leaders who attended the 1893 assembly was remarkable. Merwin-Marie Shell, the secretary to Bishop John Keane of the Catholic University of America, commented that Vivekananda was “beyond question the most popular and influential man in the Parliament.…[who] on all occasions…was received with greater enthusiasm than any other speaker, Christian or ‘Pagan.’”
The Modern Parliaments
In 1987, an idea began to be discussed around another breakfast table – the one in the monastery at the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Hyde Park in Chicago. Swami Varadananda, a former trustee of the modern Parliament’s board of directors, recalls that he and other devotees of the order founded by Swami Vivekananda were interested in celebrating the centenary of that first international convening.
2018 Parliament Justice Plenary (Left to right: James Lawson, Muhammed Lamin Saidykhan, Kasha Nabagesera — Photo: Institute for Ecological Civilization
To help bring this dream into being, the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions was incorporated as a non-profit organization dedicated to extending the spirit and legacy of the 1893 event through subsequent global gatherings. Since that dreaming session by a group of contemporary Hindu monks in Chicago, there have been eight modern international Parliament convenings: Chicago, 1993; Cape Town, 1999; Barcelona, 2004; Melbourne, 2009; Salt Lake City, 2015; Toronto, 2018; a virtual gathering during Covid, 2021; and Chicago, 2023.
The convenings have drawn between 6,000 and 10,000 persons from more than 70 countries and 50 religions and spiritualities for days of personal encounters and interreligious dialogue, plenary speeches from world spiritual leaders, hundreds of breakout sessions, musical concerts, art exhibits, and educational and craft concessions from around the world.
What is the visionary legacy of Vivekananda, now 131 years after his appearance at the first Parliament? One only must consider the vision statement of the Parliament today, which states:
The vision of the Parliament of the World’s Religions is of a just, peaceful, and sustainable world in which:
Religious and spiritual communities live in harmony and contribute to a better world from their riches of wisdom and compassion.
Religious and cultural fears and hatreds are replaced with understanding and respect. People everywhere come to know and care for their neighbors.
The richness of human and religious diversity is woven into the fabric of communal, civil, societal, and global life.
The world’s most powerful and influential institutions move beyond narrow self-interest to realize common good.
The Earth and all life are cherished, protected, healed, and restored. All people commit to living out their highest values and aspirations
The Parliament is just one of thousands of grassroots interreligious organizations worldwide. The hope for peace in our country and the world depends in part on our ability to seek and maintain harmony, mutual respect, understanding, kindness and neighborliness among people who differ religiously and philosophically. When these positive behaviors cannot be achieved, a violent attack on a Sikh gurdwara, Jewish synagogue, or Islamic mosque might tragically result – or, more horrifying, may lead to war and ethnic cleansing such as in Kosovo, Nigeria, Myanmar, or Gaza.
May we confront this potential evil by committing ourselves to “living out [our] highest values and aspirations.” May harmony and not animosity, appreciation instead of fear and cooperation rather than competition characterize our relationships with persons whose spiritual or philosophical loyalties differ from our own. Even if we have never heard of him, may the story of the young Hindu monk Vivekananda inspire us to acts of kindness and generosity of spirit.
Header Photo: Parliament of the World’s Religions Facebook