For the Lord is the great God,
the great king over all gods,
Whose hand holds the depths of the earth;
who owns the tops of the mountains.
The sea and dry land belong to God,
who made them, formed them by hand. (Psalm 95:3-5)
Once people generally believed in many gods, some greater and more powerful than others.
The Jewish scriptures (“Old Testament”) tell of a gradual process, a growing realization, a kind of discovery, that the god of Abraham and his descendants is the supreme god, greater than all the others, and ultimately that there are no others.
This means, for instance, that all the branches of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, no matter what their differences, are all worshiping the one and the same God.
Accordingly, this implies that although Jews, Christians, and Muslims have many differences, they should fundamentally be one—i.e. they should treat one another as fellow believers.
By extension, if there is only one God, this further implies that the same should apply to all other religious believers, no matter what their customs or beliefs.
And, if there is only one creator, this still further implies that the same should apply to everyone, no matter whether they have religious beliefs or affiliations or not.
A threat to all of this is giving exaggerated importance to structures of difference.
For example, Hagia Sophia, the great church, then mosque, now museum in Istanbul: Why must it be one or the other? Why can’t it be a shared place for different styles of worship, reflecting its long history?
Must strictly orthodox Jews, Christians, or Muslims—or followers of other religions—pray separately from less orthodox Jews, Christians, or Muslims?
Another, parochial example: When Cardinal Francis Spellman was Archbishop of New York, he had to respond to a massive immigration of Puerto Ricans and, later, other Latin Americans to the archdiocese.
Historically separate churches were built for each national/ethnic/linguistic group. He decided that the same church building should accommodate people of different customs and language and that the priests should know or learn the customs and language of the parishioners.
Our contemporary society seems to place an exaggerated importance on differences and institutionalizing them. If you like chocolate and I like strawberry, we don’t have to go to separate ice-cream stores.
Restaurants, stores, schools, churches, neighborhoods, apartment houses, police forces, political parties, nations, and every kind of structure or organization need to be aware of differences and respect them—but not institutionalize and segregate them.
The 1964 New York World’s Fair had a great exhibit that taught this, “It’s a Small World”; it’s still seen in Disney parks. You ride through scenes of different parts of the world, where animated dolls dressed in different, traditional clothes, sing, and even dance, to the same song. Then the same dolls are shown all mixed together, dressed in their different traditional clothing, but singing together the same song.
It was a fundamental lesson about life. Of course there are differences! You and I and everyone else—we’re all ultimately different from one another, each one of us unique, but we are all creations of the same God.
You’re not a polytheist! No matter what, don’t be afraid to sing the same song!
8 May 2022