| The vast majority of people in the world | | | | |
| automatically and unquestioningly inherit | | | | "I test drove different cars and talked to my |
| their religion from their parents. For | | | | friends about their cars." she said, |
| something as important as religion, why are | | | | increasingly exasperated. |
| we so reluctant to shop around? | | | | |
| | | | "So you checked out lots of different cars |
| One Saturday morning I was sipping my coffee | | | | before deciding on your Toyota," I gently |
| and reading the newspaper when the doorbell | | | | summarized, "but your religion, which is much |
| rang. This was an unusual occurrence as we | | | | more important, you inherited from your |
| lived in a somewhat isolated log cabin in the | | | | parents without knowing anything about the |
| mountains outside Denver. At the door stood | | | | alternatives?" |
| two attractive college-age girls who wanted | | | | |
| to talk to me about becoming a Jehovah's | | | | "Yeah," she replied rather sheepishly, |
| Witness. | | | | catching my drift. |
| | | | |
| Normally I would politely say, "No thanks" | | | | "I'll tell you what," I said. "Spend the next |
| and return to my paper, but that morning I | | | | five years investigating and the other great |
| decided to engage with them. After hearing | | | | religions of the world and then if you still |
| their initial pitch, I asked one of them, | | | | want to talk to me about becoming a Jehovah's |
| "Are your parents Jehovah's Witnesses?" | | | | Witness, we'll talk." |
| | | | |
| "Our whole family is," she replied. | | | | The girls, realizing they had a hopeless case |
| | | | on their hands, thanked me for my time and |
| "Do you think religion is an important thing | | | | left. |
| for people to have in their lives?" | | | | |
| | | | The vast majority of people worldwide inherit |
| "Very," she replied, and I agreed. | | | | their religion-one of the most important |
| | | | things in their lives-unquestioningly from |
| "How many other religions have you studied | | | | their parents, without ever investigating the |
| and investigated?" | | | | alternatives. Many arrogantly believe that |
| | | | their religion is the only way to salvation |
| "None." | | | | and that the vast majority who don't share |
| | | | their beliefs will go to hell. Some believe |
| "Is a car an important thing in your life?" I | | | | that other religions are heresy, and a few |
| asked. | | | | will even fight and die in the name of their |
| | | | religion. |
| "Well, yes, but not as important as | | | | |
| religion." | | | | However, most people are incurious about |
| | | | religion and simply want to be told what to |
| Again I agreed. "What kind of car do you | | | | believe without personal investigation. Such |
| drive?" | | | | investigation is, after all, a huge task |
| | | | which most people are not cut out for. This |
| "A Toyota." | | | | is OK; there is nothing wrong with inheriting |
| | | | the religion of our parents. This is why the |
| "Is that what your parents drive?" | | | | Dalai Lama encourages people to follow the |
| | | | religion of the culture in which they were |
| "No." | | | | raised, as opposed to proselytizing Buddhism. |
| | | | |
| "Why not?" I inquired. | | | | It seems that those who do inherit their |
| | | | religion would acknowledge their limited |
| "Because I like Toyotas better." She was | | | | understanding of other religions and adopt a |
| starting to get impatient but politely | | | | posture of tolerance, not dogmatism, toward |
| continued to humor me. | | | | them. Sadly, it seems that the less one knows |
| | | | about other religions, the more likely s/he |
| "How do you know?" | | | | is to be intolerant of it, fueling the fires |
| | | | of fundamentalism. Yet Islam has just as much |
| "Because I like the way my Toyota looks and | | | | meaning and validity for those in the Middle |
| drives, plus it was inexpensive and gets good | | | | East, and Hinduism has just as much meaning |
| gas mileage." | | | | and validity for those in India, as |
| | | | Christianity does for those in the West. |
| I nodded toward my Toyota sitting in the | | | | |
| driveway and agreed. "How did you know that | | | | Did you inherit your religion? |
| about your car when you bought it?" | | | | |