Associate Professor, Theology Department at Saint Louis University
By David C. Oughton, Ph.D.
Marshal McLuhan emphasized how media greatly shapes our self-conception as well as our view of the world. The same can be said about education and religion. But both the media and educational institutions have been failing in helping many people become religiously literate. Print and electronic media have usually either neglected or sensationalized coverage about religious groups. Media coverage of religion is often confined to sex scandals or the promotion of violence by some individuals or groups claiming to represent a particular religion. This is because many people are fascinated with controversy instead of being patient and thoughtful enough to appreciate in-depth analysis.
But the media and the schools could do much to eliminate religious bigotry and ignorance by giving the proper understanding of religious beliefs and practices. The most obvious contemporary example is Islam’s teaching of jihad. Reporters simply translate it as “holy war” and neglect to emphasize that jihad is a much broader concept. The word “jihad” is Arabic for striving or struggling. It is the Muslim teaching about striving in the cause of God for self-improvement, self-control, and self-defense. Muhammad stressed that the greater jihad is an internal struggle to follow God’s commands. The lesser jihad is an external struggle to spread or defend religious faith. This could take the form of preaching, scholarship, or charity. The Qur’an teaches that external struggle can take the form of military defense and martyrdom but only if a response includes all of these conditions: it must be against oppression, only for self-defense, not for gaining wealth or territory, never involve direct attack on civilians, never involve terrorism or suicide, be declared by religious authorities, and be a last resort! These are the same basic criteria that are part of the Jewish and Christian versions of the “just war teaching” and that have become part of the international law of war. The monotheistic religions stress that resorting to war or violence is moral only when all of these criteria are followed. The media need to report and schools need to teach that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity do not teach or promote terrorism or any immoral use of violence. They need to stress that anyone who justifies such violence is not following the true teachings of these religions.
The media and education could also do much more in helping everyone become religious literates. According to Stephen Prothero in his Religious Literacy, “Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion.” Many are illiterate about their own religion and clueless about other religions. Prothero argues that in addition to cultural illiteracy, “religious literacy is more dangerous because religion is the most volatile constituent of culture, because religion has been, in addition to one of the greatest forces for good in world history, one of the greatest forces for evil.” Just as there are good and bad forms of government, economics, art, and sex, there are good and bad forms of religion. Some atheists have emphasized only the bad forms of religion and concluded that the world would be better off without any religion. According to Christopher Hitchens, “Religion is poison. The licenses for genocide, slavery, and racism are all in holy texts.” But belief in God does not lead to violence, terrorism, and war when people follow the true teachings of the major religions about peace, justice, and care for our natural home.
People need to be knowledgeable about their own religion as well as about other religions. Many scholars of religious studies have advocated that religion become the “4th R,” especially on the secondary and collegiate level. Prothero emphasizes that “one needs to know something about the world’s religions in order to be truly educated” and that “you need religious literacy in order to be an effective citizen.” This is because world history and American history have been greatly affected by religious groups and beliefs, and because religion is now implicated in most national and international issues. Marshall McLuhan observed several decades ago that “the earth has become one big village.” It is now more necessary than ever to learn about the religions of our fellow villagers.
The Bible, the Qur’an, the Bhagavad Gita, the Teachings of the Buddha, the Sayings of Confucius, the Tao Te Ching, and other scriptures should be read and studied as part of everyone’s education. Everyone would benefit from learning about the lives and teachings of Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mahavira, Jesus, Muhammad, Guru Nanak, Baha’u’llah, Mary Baker Eddy, and other founders of religious groups. According to the philosopher Henry Nelson Wieman, these individuals “struggled earnestly and persistently with the ultimate issues of life and death. We should study reverently their lives and teaching to understand the issues. These great souls call to us to join with them in the struggle to find a better answer.”
People should learn about the symbols, holy days, beliefs, customs, and divisions of the major religions. It is also advisable if people can visit different churches, synagogues, mosques, shrines, and temples and become familiar with how people in different religions pray, worship, or meditate. The religious scholar Huston Smith calls the major religions the world’s “wisdom traditions.” Regardless of religious membership, everyone should become familiar with these lists: the Ten Commandments from the Torah, the Eight Beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Five Pillars of Islam, the four yogas of Hinduism, the five Ks of Sikhism, the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, and the Five Constant Relationships in Confucianism.
The similarities and differences between the religions need to be taught. There are basic differences between the monotheistic religions that began in the Middle East and the Asian religions that generally emphasize a non-personal view of Ultimate Reality. But all of the major religions have some version of the Golden Rule and teach common commandments such as “respect the elderly,” “help the helpless,” and “do not kill, steal, lie, or commit sexual immorality.” These teaching are the basis for the Declaration for a Global Ethic that has been signed by many leaders of different religions. The major religions emphasize the importance of human relationships, virtues (such as respect, humility, and compassion), and the avoidance of vices (such as egoism, hatred, and anger). Everyone should also learn about the differences among the religions concerning philosophy, organization, system of authority, methods of spirituality, and social customs. The religions of the world disagree about human nature, about incarnation and reincarnation, about whether history is linear or cyclical, and about whether the source of goodness is one or many, personal or impersonal, transcendent or immanent.
Besides learning information about the major religions, it is also essential for people of different religions to meet each other and discuss their concerns, hopes, fears, commitments, and motivations. Interreligious dialogue has been taking place on the international level for many years at the Parliaments of the World’s Religions. According to the ecumenical theologian Hans Küng, “there will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions” and “there will be no peace among the religions without interreligious dialogue.” Interreligious dialogue has also been taking place in St. Louis for many years through Interfaith Partnership, St. Louis’ Dialogue Group of the World’s Religions and Philosophies, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and several other organizations. People who engage in interreligious dialogue and cooperation are open to the possibility of learning from those who have different perspectives on the meaning and purpose of life. People from different religions can help correct and improve each other, just as in a marriage, family, or friendship. It would be very helpful if the media were to report regularly on the ways in which different religions promote peace, justice, and unity as well as the positive outcomes of interreligious dialogue.
David Oughton- teaches courses in the world’s religions, interreligious dialogue, and Jerusalem: City of Three Faiths. His doctorate is in “Philosophies and Theologies of Peace and Justice.” He is the organizer of St. Louis’ Dialogue Group of the World’s Religions and Philosophies which brings together representatives of the major religions in order to discuss their common questions, concerns, and hopes. He serves on the boards of Interfaith Partnership, the Living Insights Center, the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, and Citizens for Global Solutions. He has attended the last four Parliaments of the World’s Religions, and he has traveled around the world studying the world’s major religions.
