More on Religion: Miroslav Volf

On Sunday I heard a fascinating interview with Miroslav Volf on NPR's Speaking of Faith about the relationship between religion and violence. He articulated so clearly the difference between "thin" and "thick" religion: the religiosity that one can manipulate according to one's own desires is thin. Thick religiosity looks at the contexts: scriptural, historical, and tradition, that don't lend themselves easily to extremes in violent expression, cultural manipulation, or social programs. He argues that the problem with religious violence is a problem of "thin" religion, and he particularly looks at Christianity in the Croatian context, which only makes sense, as he is Croatian. It was refreshing to hear such an obviously intellectual man speak about something so delicate (and potentially inflammatory) with a balance of conviction, intelligence, and godliness. If you have a chance, listen to the interview!

He also questions Thomas Friedman's claim that the three monotheistic religions need to give up their claims to truth in order to get along. What these three religions need to do instead is engage in scriptural reasoning: read their own scriptures together and come to understand each other better (appreciate, challenge, etc.) It is an insult, he says, to say that you can't disagree with someone and still be nice to them! And I agree: obviously, we can't all be right. But it doesn't mean we can't be nice to each other. And if it's intolerant for a religious person to make a truth claim, isn't it equally intolerant to ask that person to give that claim up? In each case, someone is "forcing their morality" on someone else, and we have no clear standard by which to guage which "morality" should prevail: do we go with the popular vote? The one with the longest historical tradition? The person who has the most education? So it's a dead end and Volf's point stands: the way through it is to come to a point as an individual where you decide not to be threatened by other people, faiths, beliefs, and choose to pursue relationships and reason instead of sound byte philosophy.