SK: I agree. I have not taken the time to read the articles provided but it doesn’t sound like I would agree with what they are promoting–and I consider myself pretty liberal.
I think it would be really enlightening (haha) if all the (major) religions are touched upon in the proper setting–a religious survey course or in the context of a world history course–but none should be overly promoted to the exclusion of others. If certain passages from the koran, the bible, from confuscius or zen or taoist teachings are presented (to name a few), I think that is fine. It gives context to the general survey of a particular religion.
In fact, I think it would be a fantastic project (maybe at the high school level) to present these passages and have the students “compare and contrast” what each is trying to teach–with the outcome being that if you can interpret them with an open mind, you will see that these religions tend to promote the same underlying beliefs which form the basis for our moral system. A project that would promote harmony and counter all the divisiveness that the “devout” from any religion seem to want to promote.
So yes, I am a liberal promoting this idea–in the sense that I don’t want other people telling me (or my kids) that their religion is the “one true religion” or the “one true god.” How can these people be so arrogant as to think that a concept conceived by humans, which starts from the premise that there is something out there bigger than all of us, can be absolutely true, given our human perceptual failings?
