Pluralism Schmuralism

Pluralism, that crafty little worldview that believes that all faiths have equal stock in “truth,” continues to be both odious and attractive to me. Let’s begin with the attraction before we move to the odiousness.

Those who advocate pluralism are gentle and tolerant. In fact, tolerance is an idea built into the presuppositions of their very worldview. They are modest and genuinely seek civility, as they would much rather discuss spirituality and theology with praise and acceptance rather than blame and accusation. They have the freedom and flexibility to choose what doesn’t suit them and at the same time they are committed to not impose their decisions on you. You can almost hear them at the spiritual buffet, “I’ll take a little bit of that Nirvana stuff, give me a side of that third tier of heaven, you know, the celestial kingdom, and oh wait, no, you better keep that predestination and reincarnation. I’ll also pass on the abstinence.” Pluralists define spiritual reality as they see fit and what a glorious exercise this must be. Imagine a reality that simply revolves around your personal preferences.

There can be no theological arguments within Pluralism, for any “doctrinal” position remains fluid and incomplete. It has to. Spiritual discussions between Pluralists sounds more like an AA meeting, where they attempt to encourage and uplift the other, rather than a polemic debate. And as a result, Pluralists are more accepting, more tolerant, and more open-minded to different ideas and perspectives. They are willing to compromise and adapt, willing to synthesize ideas, and willing to accept people different from themselves without any prejudice. They are epistemologically modest. What’s true for you is good, and they genuinely mean it.

And this is all very attractive to me. I like the idea of telling someone my ideas about reality and though our ideas conflict with no possible chance for reconciliation, they respond with, “That’s great! What a wonderful perspective!” There seems to be an optimism and a genuine tolerance that comes with Pluralism, and this is attractive to me.

But of course, Pluralism is doomed by definition. For here we have a worldview that exalts itself over and above every other worldview by saying that any worldview that exalts itself over an above every other worldview is wrong. Pluralism’s defining position is that no other faith has the absolute claim to truth, which of course, is itself an absolute claim to truth. Oh, silly Pluralism. You thought you provided an answer to a vexing problem, and indeed offered a valiant solution, but you are surely deficient.

And this little unacknowledged snag within its framework comes out quite clearly if you were to engage in a conversation with a Pluralist. The gentle, tolerant, open minded Pluralist who is eager for compromise and civility quickly becomes suspicious of anyone who claims to have a faith with absolute claims to truth. The Tolerant Pluralist is only intolerant of one thing, and that is other people’s intolerance to his tolerance. He is open-minded of everything but the idea of being closed minded, which of course, makes him closed-minded. He fervently defends his BOTH – AND system against opposition, revealing his true EITHER – OR commitments. And that is the thing. The Pluralist is absolutely committed to the idea of no absolute commitments. He is closed-minded about his open-mindedness. He is intolerant of intolerance. He is in fact, deep down, not a Pluralist after all.

What profound enlightenment does one reach with Pluralism anyway? What level of transcendence can a Pluralist really achieve? He is committed to everything and therefore committed to nothing. What is the spiritual gain here? Would anyone die in the name of Pluralism? Where are all Pluralistic martyrs? There are none. They have compromised it all and cling to nothing.

Their faith is built on nothing but tolerance and respect for diversity. While those are noble things indeed, one cannot build an entire system of thought on those alone.

Everyone say it with me outloud: Pluralism Schmuralism.