Why Is Pluralism Better Than Exclusivism

Cheyenne Keyes
The topic I will be addressing is “Pluralism is a better approach than exclusivism for religion in the twenty-first century. I mostly agree with this statement because of their definitions. Pluralism is the belief that many religions are true based on their own terms and exclusivism is the belief that only the religion you follow is the true religion. I also believe that pluralism is better than exclusivism because there are so many different religions throughout the world and we have easy access to knowledge of them. It would be impossible to decide which one is true and which ones are not because it is all based on people’s personal beliefs and every person has a different view. I will be using examples from Christian Pluralism,
A negative example of exclusivism is Wahhabi Islam. Wahhabi Muslims believe that only their interpretation of the Qur’an is the correct interpretation. They believe only their followers go to heaven and want society to return to 7th Century Arabia. Wahhabi Muslims are extremely exclusivistic and often very violent. They are not open to any other religions because they believe only theirs is true. This example shows why pluralism is better than exclusivism. As I have mentioned before, there are many different beliefs, religions, and practices today in the twenty-first century. If you are only open to your own religion and are often violent about it, it gives a very negative image to you and your religion. In this case, pluralism would help them very much. They do not need to follow other religions, but if they learn to accept and appreciate the fact that other religions are true in their own way, the negativity from Wahhabi Islam would be reduced. This is just one example of many as to why pluralism is better than exclusivism in today’s