A Right to a Diverse Life Essays - Pluralism, Christianity, Religion

A Right to a Diverse Life Patriarch Bartholomew's assessment that pluralism is important in today's multicultural society is accurate because religion s hould not be forced upon anyone. This assessme nt aims to create an environment where peace and diversity can be protected. Patriarch Bartholomew argues that in order to achieve his goal of promoting diversity , we must first take a step back and reevaluate ourselves ; how we as Christians treat other religious groups . Christians decry Communism for being anti-religious when a more accurate assessment would be that it was anti-pluralist. There was a belief system in the Soviet Union: known as Marxism. Anything that was different from that belief system (ie: all religions) was violently suppressed. Belarus is one of the nations formerly under Communist rule. During that time, a fanatical, absolutist, government refused to allow any forms of pluralism to flourish. This becomes more than a question of which ideolo gy is correct, but t his was a violation of human rights. Under Communism no respect was shown to the beliefs of people. This is deplo rable to those of us who hold that all people are living icons of Christ . How then is modern day Belarus, a so-called Orthodox country that should hold this same belief in the inherent dignity of every human person, justifying its suppression of pluralism? It does not matter if the "religion" is militant atheism or Ortho dox Christianity, no religion should ever be forced upon anyone. The U.S. is an example of a pluralist society, but even here it is not perfect. An average American classroom is very diverse. There are usually students from a wide variety of religious backgrounds such as Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and even atheists. There is still a concern in some areas with mixing religions, yet this is how our nation came together. The colonists came to this land in order to escape religious persecution. Would we really want that same persecution to occur here? Sadly, this is already the case. What happened to America being a melting pot- a shining example of pluralism for the world to follow? Recent spikes in Islamophobia certainly tell a different story. Even here, among different denominations of Christianity, pluralism is sometimes blatantly disrespected. Despite recent movements towards embracing diversity, Protestantism is still the most common and accepted religion in this country. My own high school experience was one of a lack of tolerance. I felt oppressed being the only Orthodox person in a predominantly Born-Again Christian environment. I was in the minority of the school and people harshly tried to get me to convert. Being Greek Orthodox was not really an option. Growing up we are instilled with the morals and traditions of our families and religion. If one day that was stripped away from us who would we be? Our identity would be in a way gone, and the way of live will be altered to fit those in power. In a Non-denominational church service, there is little to no similarities to the Orthodox faith service. Orthodoxy is about tradition and structure, while Born-again Christians are not as structured and are more lose' with their services. As a student enrolled at this school I had to partake in the weekly chapel services. Growing up in the Greek Orthodox Church I was very uncomfortable observing, yet alone participating in their form of worship. One example of this would be during our Spiritual emphasis week, an annual celebration of praise and worship. As Orthodox Christians we show our respect and faith to God through the sign of the cross. At my school, they do not make the sign of the cross, but have other ways to show respect to the Lord. During a point in the service I made my cross and a teacher approached me and asked to speak with me after service. The problem they said, was that they wanted me to participate in the service there way.' Meaning hands in the air praising the Lord and singing alone to their worship songs. If I can be suppressed in a tiny school on Long island, imagine what an entire nation and religious group felt like. The problem