That's one of Austin's favorite bumper stickers, using the symbols of the world's major religions to spell the word: The Muslim crescent moon, for example, becomes the "C," the Star of David serves as the "X" and the cross stands in for the "T."
No doubt there is a range of motivations behind someone's decision to post this on his or her car. But its hard to ignore the scold, complete with a touch--more or less--of moral superiority on the part of the bearer. He or she is, after all, passing judgment on the less-enlightened of us who just won't acknowledge the irrelevance of our religious differences and admit that all religions are basically the same.
But do all religions teach basically the same thing? Not so. Ed Stetzer suggests we take the conception of God for starters. "According to the four largest world religions," he writes, "God is one with creation and takes on millions of forms [Hinduism], God may or may not exist [Buddhism], God is one and absolute [Islam], and God is one but exists in three persons [Christianity]. If we cannot agree on even the basic definition of God or his character, how can we say that all the major religions are on the same path toward the truth about God?"
But that doesn't mean we can't live together in mutual respect--to "COEXIST" as the bumper sticker demands. How so? In this article, Ed Stetzer suggests four ways forward:
Let each religion speak for itself.
Talk with and about individuals, not generic "faiths."
Respect the sincerely held beliefs of people of other religions.
Grant each person the freedom to make his or her faith decisions.
Read the whole thing. It's not exactly what most bearers of the COEXIST bumper stickers have in mind. But it is sure more likely to get us there.
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