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 What God Really Wants You to Know , by C. David Lundberg (Heavenlight Press, softcover, 448 pages, $24.57).
Pope Benedict XVI’s recent visit to the Holy Land emphasized the idea
that the three religions of the book — Christianity, Judaism and Islam
— share common ground.
What God Really Wants You to Know, a self-published 427-page tome by C. David Lundberg, endeavours to teach the same lesson.
Lundberg was raised a Christian, but as a teen began asking questions
he felt Christianity could not answer. He began looking to other
religions, and although he still considers himself a Christian, he also
counts himself as a member of all religions.
From
his study of seven of the world’s major religions — Christianity,
Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Confucianism — Lundberg
realized there are universal truths and principles shared by all. He
found religions have more in common than differences. He reckons if
more people realized these commonalities, there would be less conflict
in the world. He describes individual religions as being different
paths to the same God.
Perhaps unintentionally symbolic, this go-at-it-alone self-publishing
effort correlates with being joined to no one established religious
organization. Lundberg’s declaration that he is a member of every
religion hides the fact that even if he considers himself a “member” of
all, he cannot be a practitioner of all. Therein lies a potential
shortcoming of the book, a byproduct of his universalism.
The flaw is that he winds up ripping quotes to prove a thesis, but
forgets religion along the way. Religions are not just made up of
values and ethics, but also practices, community, traditions and
beliefs. He accepts the essential parts of religions that advocate
belief in God and good character traits, but this does not constitute a
religion.
It’s almost as if Lundberg encourages what is holy to be removed from
what is good. This separation raises a question. If all religions
espouse ethical common sense, then what good is religion? A supreme
ruler isn’t required if all humanity shares the same insight. And it
goes without saying, though world religions advocate ethical behaviour,
they do not guarantee it.
By distilling what is the same in seven religions, Lundberg has erased
the individual essences of each and made them meaningless. The great
spiritual traditions become nothing more than etiquette lessons that
for most are common sense.
Lundberg has a noble goal in trying to bridge the differences between
religions. But trying to convince people that religions are all
essentially the same and equally valid and good is not a good way.
Lundberg has distilled the commonalities into 33 principles and gives
them each a chapter in his book. The book’s contents are focused on two
major parts of religious beliefs: descriptions of the nature of God and
how to live a joyful and peaceful life. All told, Lundberg uses 800
quotations from various holy books to prove his points. The collected
principles include known religious values such as the omnipotence of
God, charity, loving speech, moderation and gratitude.
Lundberg offers only short introductions to each chapter and section,
without further commentary on each quotation. This approach makes the
book appear to be simply a compendium of quotes rather than an
analysis. However, the amount of research done on each religion is
apparent, as is the thought that went into developing each of the
chapters.
Learning about the commonalities between world religions, in theory, is
certainly one good way to start overcoming interreligious antagonism.
For anyone who might suspect that a certain religion is inherently
hateful, or lacks the preaching of loving-kindness, this book would be
of service. Through this book there may be a certain comfort gained —
that the intended messages world religions generally have at their core
have the capacity to make us better.
A better book idea, perhaps, might be to show us how we might all just
get along by knowing and struggling with our real differences.
It’s not religions that hate; people do. A religion ought to be judged
by its practitioners and what light they bring to the world, rather
than how many wise sayings can be found that advocate ethical
behaviours. |
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