Everyone is Exclusive

In his book To Know and Love God, David Clark correctly writes:

“Suppose that to disagree with a person – to say, “I believe your belief is wrong” –really does entail arrogance and intolerance.  This makes a pluralist as arrogant and intolerant as a fundamentalist.  For when a pluralist dialogues with an exclusivist, he must say, “I believe your belief [about exclusivism] is wrong.” If in fact disagreement entails intolerance, then since pluralists must declare that five billion plus exclusivists are wrong, it would follow that pluralists are intolerant.” (p. 351)

Simply put, we are all exclusive in our belief set and must be honest about that fact.  So the question to ask is not, “Do you hold exclusive beliefs?” because at the root level everyone has exclusive beliefs.  The better question to ask is, “Where do your exclusive beliefs lead you? Which set of exclusive beliefs leads to humble acceptance of and love for those who differ from you?