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Living your faith in an interfaith world: the other
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Aline Dassel
Even those who say they have no faith, believe in something. It might be nature, or science, or the big three of Philosophy 101: The Good, The True, and The Beautiful. No matter what beliefs we profess, we have to learn to live in a world of pluralistic beliefs. But how do we do that?
There's an old saying that your freedom stops where your fist hits my nose. In other words, as long as you don't hurt others, you are free to live as you wish. Easier said than done when the subject is a volatile as faith can be. Yet all faiths offer guidance in some semblance of the Golden Rule. Whether it's the Christian edict to "Do unto other as you would have them do unto you" or the Pagan "As long as you hurt none, do what you will," every religion offers similar advice. Yet this simple rule is so hard to put into practice. Here are some suggestions for living out your faith's version of the Golden Rule:
- Find out exactly what your belief system has to say about how to treat others.
- Look at what other beliefs have to say about the same thing. In these days of instant access to most scriptures through Google, there is no reason not to know what others REALLY believe.
- Examine your own beliefs about who is the "other." Can you honestly say that some people are not worthy of your respect and generosity? If so, you may be reading your own scriptures wrong.
- Examine your own soul before you judge others. Are you being true to your own faith tradition when you treat others poorly?
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