Changing U.S. Role of Religious Pluralism Changing

CHANGING U.S. ROLE OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

changing role relig U.S.

When I volunteered in a museum, one of the exhibits that passed through was a collection of Buddhist artwork. One of the displays featured the "Bamiyan Buddhas," two ancient statues that had been recently destroyed in Afghanistan by Al Qaeda. These were the largest stone Buddhas in the world, and apparently the Taliban locals would not destroy them so extremists had to be imported (Martin, 2005, p. 76). Now Muslim fundamentalists have destroyed another 30 historic Buddhist relics, again on grounds of iconoclasm, in the island of Maldives (Bajaj, 2012, n.p.). This illustrates the changing role of religious pluralism in America today, not only as we police religious conflict in Afghanistan and abroad, but here at home protecting the irreplaceable relics of ancient religions that continue to be destroyed all around us.

Esposito (2008) reminds us of the role of religious tolerance in ethical monotheism as described in the Quran and Bible alike (p. 6). Any religion that promulgates a Golden Rule binds itself to at least tolerance of, if not dialogue with, religious neighbors. In the United States, religious pluralism is protected as a civil right, and while violence toward person and property unfortunately exists, the radical Muslim type of iconoclasm described by Bajaj in the Maldives (2012) could never take place because of this inviolable protection. Until you consider Animism a real religion, that is. If Animism is a valid religion deserving standing under Golden Rule religious pluralism, then to Native Americans, any remaining Shintoists but also many others, the environment we inhabit is an irreplaceable spiritual relic that must be preserved from secular or iconoclastic extremists who have not been perfectly tolerant. If Americans of faith want to live up to their proclaimed ethic of tolerance, and their Constitution's right to religious pluralism, we will have to consider our changing role as stewards of the natural environment, if the natural world is holy to religions we recognize, outside the museum display case at least.