Thinking. Loving. Doing. (Contributions by by John Piper

Author:John Piper [Feedbooks]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781433526541
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2011-08-15T16:00:00+00:00

Bad Pluralism

But, on the other hand, there also exists what we might call an uncritical, unthinking, even naïve pluralism. This is the kind of pluralism, multiculturalism, or diversity seeking that fails to distinguish between the inherent worth of people made in God’s image and ideas. There’s a difference between valuing people as equal and valuing ideas as though every idea is equal in worth. Not all ideas are created equal. Failing to remember this is the first mistake we make in our thinking when encountering religious perspectives, including Islam.

We see an example of this in the kind of religious pluralism that says, “All religions are true and all are beautiful.” Or, “All roads lead to God. All religions are climbing the same mountain.” Those comments reflect a naïve pluralism.

What makes this approach to pluralism naïve and unhelpful? First, this approach to pluralism flattens differences—real and significant differences—that matter to the practitioners of various religions or cultural views. There is a cultural tendency to downplay anything that divides or differentiates.

Therefore, second, this kind of naïve pluralism proves ethically irresponsible because it doesn’t address real social problems and challenges occasioned by the diversity of our world. While a pluralistic society offers benefits, it also poses challenges stemming from the same diversity. We ignore these differences at significant risk to the true well-being and peace of society. We live in a world where failing to understand real and significant differences leads to car bombs, plane hijackings, bullets flying, and civil wars.

Third, a naïve pluralism is unhelpful because it fails to account for the far-reaching effects of diversity. In most cultures, diversity influences nearly every aspect of society. For example, religious diversity alone impacts everything from economics (no-interest banking among Arab Muslims), to politics (evangelical voting blocks in American elections), to military and war (Protestant and Catholic “troubles” in Northern Ireland).

To understand our world, we have to understand something about the differences among people—especially religious differences. As Stephen Prothero puts it, “Even if religion makes no sense to you, you need to make sense of religions to make sense of the world.”1 A naïve pluralism turns us into ostriches with our heads buried beneath the sand and our rear ends in the air, hoping no one will see us and harm us. It’s not a thinking posture.

My three-year-old son, Titus, likes to play hide-and-seek while we’re driving in the car. He throws his favorite blanket over his head and calls, “Dad, you can’t find me.” His legs dangle exposed beneath the blanket, but he thinks he’s hidden and safe. I like to reach back and gently pluck him in the forehead as he giggles. So much of our engagement with people not like us reminds me of Titus cowering beneath his blanket while exposed.

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