ASSIGNMENT 1 | FORUM QUESTION | GOD
October 18, 2025 7:05 PM
ASSIGNMENT 1 | FORUM QUESTION | GOD
Please respond to the following prompt: How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
Discussion (16)
How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
I do not view Christianity as the only way to God or “salvation”. In fact, salvation is not something I associate with my faith much at all. If I were to be asked what salvation means to me I would say that it speaks to the need in us as humans to continually find hope in the face of suffering. It has more to do with “getting right” with God for the sake of our own spiritual health and ultimately the making of a just and loving world. It is not about personal piety and receiving justification to enter into the afterlife.
I find that hope and call for a just and loving world in many other faiths and spiritual practices. I have found my relationships with friends of other faiths strengthened by ceremonies and practices that they invite me to participate in.
My own worshiping community has often invited voices from other faiths to share their insights. We are a community that understands that the Word accommodates the diversity of all humanity and no one religion or practice can claim it exclusively.
I feel similarly, Judy, that is: I have long believed that there are many paths to the Divine and there is a long-standing tradition within Christianity of "universalism," even if it has been denigrated as heresy at times. The Universalist movement in the 19th century found significant followers in the United States, and this tradition continues today in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), which was formed when the Universalist Church of America merged with the American Unitarian Church in the early 1960s.
Our readings for this week also remind me that there are early examples in Christian history of attempts made to put Christianity into dialogue with other religious traditions; in the case of the Chinese Christian Sutras, we see Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism all drawn upon to explain the elements of belief in Jesus.
Your concluding statement (that " We are a community that understands that the Word accommodates the diversity of all humanity and no one religion or practice can claim it exclusively.") rings true to me.
M. Cross
Christian History
&Social Change
Bernard Schlager, PhD
Lesson 4, Assignment 1
Forum Question - God
Because my beliefs have expanded, I am able to relate to people of all faiths dwelling on similarities rather than differences So I'll engage with anyone, not in a religious way, but in a manner that exemplifies the principles of God's word. And, people pay less attention to what you say and more on what you do. So I try my best to uphold those principles in word and deed so people can see the Word in action. I think if all lived their principles we would see that we're more alike than different.
Mary Catherine: I appreciate your phrase re: engaging with others "in a manner that exemplifies the principles of God's word." My sense is that the Christian Nestorians who wrote the Chinese Sutras (which we read this week) had a somewhat similar approach to the Buddhists, Confucianists, and Taoists among whom they evangelized. Finding commonalities to build relationships upon.
Reflection Question: How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
I would say my dual religious formation (being raised in an Apostolic house seven days a week, while attending catholic school Monday through Friday with daily morning mass, and confession - created the foundation for pluralistic understanding. This taught me that authentic spiritual encounter takes radically different forms even within the same faith tradition. This early bilingual experience of religions prepared me for a pivotal recognition in college when I watched Maya Deren's documentary on Haitian vodou. I saw practitioners being "mounted by spirit" and immediately recognized what I'd witnessed in my grandfather's church. Same phenomenon, different names, and different cultural containers. This direct experience produced my core insight: spirit is spirit is spirit around the world.
My winding path through multiple traditions gave me something essential: the ability to welcome others regardless of faith or practice. I arrived at my own faith through Catholic ritual, Apostolic fervor, African diaspora religions, Science of Mind ( now Centers for Spiritual Living), transcendental meditation, and finally Christian contemplative practice. There is no direct road and my journey proves it. This lived experience creates genuine tolerance because I cannot demand others follow a straight path I never walked myself. I hold space for others' beliefs and practices because I know firsthand that spirit meets people where they are, not where religious gatekeepers insist they should be.
Shiree: you write about arriving at your own faith "through Catholic ritual, Apostolic fervor, African diaspora religions, Science of Mind ( now Centers for Spiritual Living), transcendental meditation, and finally Christian contemplative practice." As you say, your lived experience has led you to "genuine tolerance." When I think back on last week's class and our consideration of the other, I realize that "The Formation of a Persecuting Society" (both the book with that title and the thesis its author, RI Moore, advances) reflects ways of thinking that are rooted in singular understandings of only one acceptable path to the Divine. Hopefully, we humans are learning to find common ground—and an expanded understanding of spirituality—by being open to a variety of religious traditions and the wisdom contained in each one.
Katherine Whitney
In my adult life, my spiritual practice rose out of personal crisis and centered around Buddhist teachings and the principles from the recovery community. These sources resonated with me at that time, and continue to resonate today. When I landed at my current church, Epworth, I heard teachings that came from a wide variety of sources: Christian, Buddhist, lay poets. Spirituality was widely defined. And what stood out was the commonality between these different sources. They all share a foundation that includes the innate goodness of every being, the importance of loving kindness toward all beings and the Earth, the embrace of all people and exclusion of none, the importance of acceptance…the list goes on. Basically it became clear to me that all the major faith traditions have at their foundation principles around what it is to be a decent human in the world. This was a huge relief to me. I didn’t need to attach myself to a denomination of Christianity, or even a major religion. Finding a community that puts these core beliefs into practice is enough. So I continue to read my Buddhist texts and listen to dharma talks and go to church and participate in actions around justice, love, kindness, generosity. It feels all inclusive and gives a sense of belonging that I know starts in my own heart.
My path is somewhat similar, Katherine: bringing together my own Christian identity (and Catholic roots) along with what I have learned and experienced through (Zen) Buddhism. And, yes, I found relief in the realization (speaking for myself here) that there are many ways in which humans come to understand the Divine/divine or God or ultimate reality. Basic to each is valuing the importance of every being (including all of nature) and the utmost importance of treating others with love and respect.
Clark Kellogg
Christian History and Social Change
Prof. Bernard Schlager, Ph. D.
Week 4, Assignment 1, December 17, 2025
How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
My answer will be a bit diffuse because my thinking about this prompt is that way. I’ve never resolved the “missionizing” tenet of Christianity with my own spiritual practices and embrace of religious pluralism. I like to think I act with tolerance, patience, and compassion toward other people and sentient beings. To the extent I “promote” it is by example.
I came back to Church later in life. My deep engagement in the Epworth community has been forming slowly over the last 25 or so years. If anything, I am a “Christian Incrementalist.” I’ve always been more drawn to the questions and not the answers. The Confucian and Buddhist adaptations in the Jesus Sutras appeal to my sense of spiritual pluralism because there were so many different images of God in the text. I feel like I have different images of God within my own beliefs and practices.
In a way, my spiritual practices are more like a dim sum meal than a headline entrée. True, I’ve always composed my own religion under the Christian umbrella. Values of kindness, compassion, creativity, and acceptance snuggle under that umbrella along with intention, action, and helping others. These values aren’t restricted to Christianity yet were certainly embedded in early Christian formulation. The positive side of early missionizing was the spread of these values (which I imagine were radical in the first centuries of the Common Era).
In the years we are living in now, tolerance – religious or other – is being squeezed along with pluralism and even spiritual practices. My beliefs and spiritual practices have deepened in response. They are my anchor. I like promoting diversity and tolerance in almost everything within and certainly beyond the boundaries of Methodism and Epworth.
I agree with you, Clark, that our current environment (both in this country and around the world) see increasing signs of intolerance. We humans (including Christians, of course) seem to retreat to "othering" others when there is political unrest and economic instability, etc. Your image of dim sum makes sense to me: yes, the world's spiritual traditions/religions in my view reflect the various ways in which humans over time have sought to understand ultimate reality, the purpose of life, and what it means to live a good life.
"Composing [one's] own religion under the Christian religion" states well what I think many of us Christians do, in fact: eager to learn from and love those from traditions other than our own. In some ways I see Jesus in the Gospels as doing this when he reached out to Samaritans, to women, to tax collectors, and those on the farthest margins of society.
Amanda Weaver
Christian History & Social Change
Lesson 1: Assignment
My early education in Christian faith was through a more conservative church, and I remember being anxious about whether my friends and family would go to heaven as they didn’t go to church with me. It was an eye opener to meet my Catholic great aunt when I was in 5th grade and discover that she was just as worried about my side of the family because we weren’t the “right” religion either. It wasn’t too long after that conversation that we changed churches; my mother was horrified to find out that was the message I was getting in Sunday School. While the next church was not as concerned with exclusivity, it was toxic in other ways that pushed me away from a formal faith.
The journey back to being part of a church was long and winding. There wasn’t a lot of diversity to explore in Wyoming, but I dove into learning about other cultures and religions every time I got the chance (much to my parents’ chagrin – they didn’t expect to see Balinese Culture & Gamelan or Eastern Philosophy and Religion on my college transcript).
Those experiences focused a vague idea into a firm belief that there is no one “right” or “best” path to God; we are all expected to find the way that fits us. One of the things I value most is engaging with people from other traditions: cultural, religious, denominational, etc. I always come away from times of sharing and conversations with a deeper understanding of the world and of God. The more we engage with each other, in person/online or through reading/education, the richer our experience is and the better our world is.
Amen, Amanda! I, too, find that the "more we engage with each other, in person/online or through reading/education, the richer our experience is and the better our world is." Your comments prompt me to reflect on how influential our childhood experiences within a faith community can be in shaping our understandings of who is "in" and who is "out." In my own family, there was a painful (and common to many others) story of an aunt (Catholic) who wasn't allowed to marry her husband in a Catholic church because he was Episcopalian. Instead, they were married in the rectory in a brief ceremony that could only accommodate a few people. Sometime later my aunt left the Catholic Church and said that this experience of being kept outside of the church for her marriage ceremony was the first time she had questioned her religion and its practice (before the Second Vatican Council) of disapproving of "mixed marriages," that is, a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic.
What would Jesus have done? I strongly suspect he would have criticized the rectory wedding option!
Victor Ogundipe
Week 4 - Assignment 1
Christian History and Social Change
How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
My belief and spiritual practice boil down to this: salvation exists and it is available to all, omitting none. Salvation is different from religious pluralism and tolerance. Pluralism and tolerance say that we should co-exist in our various beliefs peacefully and appreciate each other's traditions and respect our differences.
Salvation on the other hand says that I am not even worthy to judge.
Salvation says that I learn from others not because I will be tolerant, but rather because the world is filled with God’s voice and I can’t bear to miss an opportunity to listen.
Salvation says I find peace with others because I love God, and they, like me, are cut in God’s image.
From a place of salvation there may be differences, but there is no division, no tolerance, no pluralism, just salvation, and the prayer for others salvation and my own is one.
Deborah Anderson
Week 4 - Assignment 1
Christian History and Social Change
How do my own beliefs and/or spiritual practices promote religious pluralism and tolerance in the world today?
My spiritual formation has taught me that God is not confined to one tradition or cultural expression. For me, this understanding feels both deeply held and continually forming. I do not remember a time when I was not drawn toward this openness, and for that I am grateful, even as I know it continues to be shaped and refined. Reading the Jesus Sutras reinforced this posture, revealing a Christianity rooted in Christ yet able to speak faithfully within another religious world.
I seek to live with open-mindedness and attentiveness to the experiences of others. I engage in interfaith dialogue as one way of fostering understanding and respect, and I practice empathy by attending to the shared human values that cross religious boundaries. I try to encourage inclusive community through careful use of language and practices that honor diverse traditions, while also striving for honesty—especially when language or practices, intentional or unintentional, exclude or cause harm. Above all, I hope and seek to model acceptance and kindness in my interactions.
Leonard Bailey
Week 4 - Assignment 1
Christian History and Social Change
Growing up Christian gave me a strong foundation, but as I’ve gotten older and started learning more about other cultures and spiritual traditions, my views have definitely expanded. I still believe in God, but I don’t think there’s just one way to connect with the Divine. Whether someone prays in church, meditates in silence, burns sage, or just takes a quiet walk in nature—if it brings them peace and helps them treat people better, I respect it.
For me, it’s not about who’s right or wrong when it comes to religion. It’s about understanding that we all come from different places, and our spiritual paths reflect that. I’ve found beauty and truth in parts of Buddhism, Indigenous traditions, Islam, and even in conversations with people who don’t identify with any religion at all. And instead of feeling like my faith is being challenged, I feel like it’s growing stronger and more open.
I think the world needs more of that—people being willing to learn from each other without judging. That’s how I try to live: staying grounded in my own beliefs, but always open to listening and learning from others. In a time where folks are quick to argue or cancel each other over differences, I think choosing respect and curiosity is a spiritual practice too.