Just the other day I heard the song by George Harrison called "My
Sweet Lord" on the radio. Beyond the simple delightfulness of the tune
typical of a Beatle, there is something about this particular song that
always makes me pause to focus and reflect. I think it has something to
do with its honesty, and its almost desperate longing and desire. This
is a song of worship, even as it identifies the object of worship as
transcending the traditional expressions of praise in the religions of
both East and West. (See sidebar on page 18 for lyrics.) In a general
sense, the song is an invitation for us to see our particular religious
traditions not as ends in themselves, but as serving the higher end of
knowing a God who stands equally "behind" them all. It's interesting
that George Harrison's close friend and fellow Beatle John Lennon wrote
another immensely popular song along the same lines: "Imagine." This
song expresses the same feelings of longing and desire; although here we
are invited to envision a society of justice, peace, and freedom that
transcends the oppressive and divisive institutions of government,
ideology, and religion that are also mistaken as ends in themselves.
It seems to me that together these two songs have come to provide our
culture with a simple yet significant and poetic expression of what
might be called "popular religious pluralism." (For a good definition of
religious pluralism, see Patrick Smith's sidebar on page 24.) When I
say popular I don't mean superficial, I mean widely held. John Lennon
may have apologized for his off-the-cuff statement - taken out of
context in America at the time-that the Beatles were more popular than
Jesus, but that doesn't change the fact that in defining the beliefs of
our contemporary Western culture, he may have been close to right. This
was impressed on me while watching the opening ceremony of the 2006
Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, when Peter Gabriel sang "Imagine" on a
world stage to the response of thousands of affirming cheers. The fact
is, and recent data supports this, the popular vision of religious
pluralism as expressed in these songs is now the more widely held in our
culture, even among professing Christians, and even among professing
conservative or evangelical Christians. This is testimony to
the power of this religious vision and to a hope that is deeply desired
in our troubled world. The vision that the real Lord stands "behind"
even our religious traditions and institutions, and that human society
can therefore also progress beyond them is a profoundly resonating and
hopeful vision indeed. Continue at Peter D. Anders
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