A man walked up and asked me the question I always get asked after a public event. He identified himself as a Christian, of what he considered a conservative variety. He asked: “Why are you standing with Muslims instead of converting them?” My answer as a Christian, after over 300 public engagements, is always the same: “Because of Jesus.”
This response nearly always seems to be beyond the imagination of those who ask. They think there is only one. Only one religion that is. More precisely, they think there is only one religion that is faithful to, understands, and accepted by the Creator of the Universe.
They are right. There is only ONE.
But I have learned through engaging with my Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Indigenous, Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic, Atheist, Christian, and other neighbor that there is only one:
One humanity
What my conservative Christian friend was assuming is mono-religionism: That there is only one true religion. This leads, especially under conditions of anxiety in a society, to claiming that full humanity is limited to those within our in-group. Mono-religionism expresses a desire in human beings to claim our in-group is superior. It reduces others to sub-human, or suggests they are only potentially human until they convert. Among Christians, it reduces salvation to acceptance by an exclusive in-group.
It is a good thing to be committed to one’s wisdom tradition. But no wisdom encompasses and owns the source of all wisdom.
Monotheism proposes that there is One Creator and thus one humanity. Monotheism proposes that the diversity of human beings, cultures, and religions is a beautiful feature of our one humanity. This leads, even under conditions of anxiety in society, that the humanity of every person and every group is inalienable. It recognizes differences and even conflicts, but offers a way through them.
In Luke 10 in the Christian Scriptures, Jesus told a positive story about a group with whom he had racial and religious differences. Jesus had the compassion, curiosity, and courage to tell a humanizing story about a dehumanized group – Samaritans. This is the way Jesus walked. To follow the way of Jesus is to recognize and take risks to honor the unity of the human family.
This commitment to the unity of the human family must not be just “something we believe.” To speak of the unity of the human family is powerful, but not enough. For it to really matter, it must be a commitment that drives us to
- relate to
- speak well of
- work for the common good of
- and risk ourselves for those whose humanity is being denied.
The challenge of this moment is that we are living in a fun-house-mirror of dehumanization. It is amplified by those who benefit from us being torn asunder. It is amplified by both our amygdalas and our algorithms. We stand for one group and then stand against another. We hear the words about our own group with horror and then repeat words about other groups without enough care about the impact of our words.
But there is really only one humanity. There is only ONE. It is not just a concept but a vision that inspires us to act. It inspires us to risk for one another’s humanity in this moment.
We either go up together, or we go down together.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day is a time to consider what risk we will take for each other, and with each other. Spend time as I have, listening to the last speech he gave before he gave his life because he was committed to the notion that
There is only one. We are one.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm