We're So Close to Hating Everyone: Religious Bumper Sticker Edition.

So the last We're So Close to Hating Everyone talk Jeff and I had was about bumper stickers. Specifically, this one:

I understand this is not a malicious bumper sticker. There are a lot more insulting, offensive stickers out there. Those might get a blog post some time in the future. 

But I still am close to hating it.

I am close to hating it because it is silly: all of these religions already coexist. (Although, I'm not sure what the peace-sign religion is... Hippieism?) These religions all exist on the same planet, right now. There are wars being fought between some of these coexisting religions/ideologies, in fact. Yes, I know it is trying to say more than this... but more on that in a minute. 

Other people must have noticed this problem, and so they came up with another, very similar sticker:

This one, besides adding in some new symbols and gender-and-sex-stuff into the mix, also has a new word: tolerance. And this is kind of a weird and yet very popular word floating around these days. And that's my trouble with this sticker. Tolerance is not so hot. For instance, if I merely tolerated my husband's existence, I have a feeling our marriage would be considered a sham by others. Similarly, if I merely "tolerate" the existence of another religion, it sounds more like I might touch it with a six foot pole, but that's about it. 

All right, so I am definitely a weird kind of idealist: I am sarcastic, and maybe a bit cynical, and I have this kind of negative view of human nature and things, but I also have very high expectations:

These stickers are a weird idealistic but misguided message. I honestly don't think their message is asking  for this bland world of half-hearted or half-disgusted "acceptance"... but that's what is happening. 

First off: the first sticker annoys me the most, because it assumes a few things that I don't think are true:

1.) Religious people cannot put up with other religions' existence. 

2.) The many problems and arguments between people of different religions are negligible because they're basically the same underneath it all, and should just coexist.

3.) Religious differences are what cause major conflict. (Thank you Dawkins et al... Not.)  

My rebuttal to this:

1.) Me and most of the other religious people I know (Not an awesome rebuttal, but oh well). 

2.) This book. 

3.) This post. 

The second sticker is a little less annoying, but still not great: 

As we were having our little discussion, Jeff reminded me of a guy we heard speak about six or seven years ago name Greg Ganssle who said this idea of tolerance is ultimately misguided. Tolerance is not an ideal. It's kind of a sad ideal, if it is. 

Ganssle thinks it would be better if we replace "tolerance" with the word "appreciation." And I think this is a much better substitution. For sure, we will never get to a point where everyone agrees with each other. Hell, even within the same religion people can't agree with one another, hence sects and denominations. To respect someone else or something else is not necessarily to agree with them. But it is possible to disagree with someone's point of view but still respect and appreciate it. 

Yeah, I know that sounds kind of crazy in this current cultural situation where we instantly disparage any perspective that's different than our own (often with some snark). But, for instance, most of my in laws are Vegan, mainly for ethical reasons. I am not Vegan, and I do not see animals the same way they do, exactly, but I can understand why they've made this decision, and on some levels, I do agree with their reasons for choosing not to consume animal products. We'll never agree completely with each other on this subject, but I don't merely tolerate their choice and will adopt their diet when we spend time together. 

So that's why respect is a better goal than coexistence or tolerance... but maybe it doesn't look super-awesome on a sticker.