Eboo Patel: The challenge of our century is religious pluralism vs. religious totalitarianism
In his book Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel describes his belief that the challenge of our century is whether religious extremism will prevail or whether religious pluralism with hang in. He has a unique observation of how extremism works:
Religious totalitarians have the unique advantage of being able to oppose each other and work together at the same time. Osama bin Laden says that Christians are out to destroy Muslims. Pat Robertson says that Muslims want only to dominate Christians. Bin Laden points to Pat Robertson as evidence of his case. But if you look from a certain angle, you see that they are not on opposite sides at all. They are right next to each other, standing shoulder to shoulder, a most unlikely pair, two totalitarians working collectively against the dream of a common life together.
Add comment July 20th, 2009
