Respect Begins with Understanding

The respect for the beliefs of others begins with a proper and correct understanding of what those beliefs are, not as they might be expressed polemically by those outside a particular faith tradition but as explained by those who hold the particular beliefs. This primer section of the website seeks to provide an aid to this essential aspect of a Scout's "reverence" in terms of respect for the beliefs of others.

Understanding Begins with Recognizing Diversity

The place to begin in understanding the breadth of religious diversity is with one's own tradition. In speaking about other religious communities, our limited knowledge and experience most often tends to flatten and way over-simplify their beliefs. Usually this happens by describing a particular religion in either "historical" or "ideal" terms. As examples, one might say simply that Muslims follow the teachings of Mohammad, Christians those of Jesus, and Jews those of Moses, without taking into consideration the myriad ways these religions have developed in the tens of centuries since Moses, Jesus and Mohammad lived.

We recognize this instantly with regard to our own traditions. Few people in America today would respond simply that they are "Christians"; they might say they were Catholic, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, ... -- and even if they did name themselves as just "Christian" they might understand that label as a rejection of "denominationalism" or "creedalism." Ask Presbyterians to be more specific, and they might tell you they are "Presbyterian Church in the United States of America" ("PCUSA" for short) and not "Presbyterian Church in America" ("PCA") or "Orthodox Presbyterian" or "Associate Reformed Presbyterian" or some other designation, and they would tell you that those denominational labels describe important theological and cultural distinctions (such as whether women can be ordained to ministry). Look only a little deeper --- even occasionally scanning the newspapers will suffice -- and you will find what are sometimes divisive differences of theological opinions or understandings of proper ethical practice within these distinct denominations as well.

Again, none of this comes as a surprise with regard to our personal religious communities (even if some worry about these divisions). It is a "given" of how life is. But such nuance and diversity is true of all forms of religious tradition and expression. It is no more correct to say that "Buddhists believe" than it is to say "Christians believe" if one infers by those expressions that absolutely every person who ever has or ever will claim that tradition as their own anywhere in the world would grant unquestioning assent. Respect for diversity of religious belief and practice isn't just a Scouting value between religions; it is a value just as important within particular religions as well.

The Widening Breadth of American Religion

If ever there was a time that one could describe American religion as exclusively "Judeo-Christian," then it can most assuredly be said that those days are over. The findings of a poll conducted by Newsweek magazine and Beliefnet in the summer of 2005 illustrates that point. While a clear majority identified their religion as some form of Christianity (58% Protestant, 22% Catholic, and 5% another Christian group), 1% of respondents identified their religion as Judaism, 1% as Islam, 3% as another non-Christian religion, and 4% as an "undesignated" religion in terms of the polling options (6% responded "atheist/agnostic/no religion"). While the individual percentages may be small, together they show that more than 1 out of every 8 Americans do not identify with "Judeo-Christian" religion.

But some Americans didn't need poll results to convince them of this fact; they only need to drive home from work each evening. In her book A New Religious America, Diana L. Eck of Harvard University describes the changing face of American religion in terms of a drive along New Hampshire Avenue, a road that runs out of Washington, D.C. and through the suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland (one of the roads the author of this site drives home from work):

Set back from the road on a grassy slope is a new Cambodian Buddhist temple with its graceful, sloping tiled roof. Then one sees the new copper-domed mosque of the Muslim Community Center, set between an onion-domed Ukrainian Orthodox Church and a Disciples of Christ church. Farther along is a new brick Gujarati' Hindu temple called Mangal Mandir, and just off New Hampshire Avenue is a Jain temple. The many churches along the way also reveal the new dimensions of America's Christian landscape, with Hispanic Pentecostal, Vietnamese Catholic, and Korean evangelical congregations sharing facilities with more traditional English-speaking mainline churches. (pages 21-22)

An example of those last institutions in this list is the St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, which shares its worship space with a non-Lutheran, Korean Christian congregation. St. Stephen's has been the charter organization of Troop 1086 of the National Capital Area Council for over 40 years. Just since the year 2000, the boys registered and enjoying Scouting together in that one troop have included Christians (Protestants [of many different denominations], Catholics, and Orthodox), Jews, and Buddhists.

The Goals and Organization of this Primer

Obviously this website cannot explore all the diversity of religious belief and practice found among Scouts and Scouters in 21st century America (a whole library could scarcely do that, but see the "Books" page under "Resources" on this site for recommendations of some helpful surveys of the world's religions). Consequently, this primer will itself be forced to rely on descriptions presented in "historical" and/or "ideal" terms. In order to do so with respect and defense of these religions (the very things this website is attempting to model for Scouts and Scouters), the descriptions here will follow the ways of speaking used by scholars of religious studies, often in the terms used by scholars who would identify with the particular religious tradition. Each description will also give some guidance on where some of the continuums of diversity within that tradition run. Nor can this website be anymore exhaustive in its treatment of religious traditions than it can be in its treatment of any given tradition. We will give some often heard examples as ways of pointing in certain directions of religious belief and practice.

One particular resource that is invaluable in providing a brief introduction to the beliefs and worship practices of broad range of religious groups in modern America is How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook (3rd edition; edited by Stuart M. Matlins and Arthur J. Magida). Each of its 29 chapters deals with the "History and Beliefs," "the Basic Service," "Holy Days and Festivals," "Life Cycle Events" (births, initiations [transitions to adulthood], marriages, and funerals), and "Home Celebrations" of a specific religion or denomination within a broader religious movement. It gives such practical advice as to what one should wear, what might be expected to happen, and what one might be expected to do [and not to do] if invited to attend a worship service of a religious community other than one's own.

The web pages of this primer will be organized under three broad headings, which will then each be further subdivided. Those headings relate how scholars of religion often make distinctions among sets of religious beliefs. "Traditional" religions refer to the folk religions usually associated with aboriginal peoples around the world, but which continue to be practiced by people of modern societies. "Monotheism" is the label applied to the belief in a single, personal God and has sometimes been referred to as "Western religions" (that page will briefly discuss the problems with that designation). "Eastern Religions" will gather together a variety of religious philosophical traditions historically originating in Asia and ranging from "multitheistic" to "nontheistic" in their understandings of the Divine. In keeping with the interactive structure at the core of "web-based" and "hyperlinked" texts, you can of course move through this primer in whatever ways are most helpful to you. However, you should be aware that it is probably best to begin with the materials on "Traditional" religions since it can reasonably be argued that all the world religions have their roots in these forms of spirituality.

Copyright © 2005 Scouting and Religious Diversity
Last modified: 10/10/05