I believe that I am like many folks here in the US and I’m sure abroad as well when we are speaking about religion. My grandparents on one side were of two different faiths, Agnostic and Episcopalian. My grandmother on the other side was Catholic. My parents were of two different beliefs Catholic and Atheist. My wife has similar religious mixes in her family. We are, when it comes to religious upbringing, compost.
Over thousands of years people have been marrying outside of their religious beliefs and practices. This marriage can be harmonious or not, but either way it produces offspring that believe and practice things differently than their parents. The cycle of change is never ending. But surprisingly the seeds that grow in the compost of many of the world’s great religions are not always healthy and fertile. Some of these can be called weeds. Pesky things that creep up almost overnight until they have begun to show up everywhere. Some of these weeds fail to get established and others find a place to live where they are appreciated and nurtured and then they are no longer considered a pest. They become accepted into the broader understanding. But the old stock religions, those that have evolved to outlast the weeds and perhaps even been grafted to far older beliefs. These are the great products of the religious compost heap. This cycle has actually changed and created some religious beliefs that we hold dear today. Buddhism is a product of religious compost. Just look at the various sects and regions of Buddhism. The root stock is solid. In many regions Buddhism was grafted to older more established religious practice and adopted by practitioners and scholars alike. Looking at the spread of Buddhism in the US, we can see the religious compost process in action. It has been adapted and incorporated into many different views within the last 50 years. And yet the fruits are still as appealing and nourishing as I imagine they were when the first seeds and pruned branches hit the bin. Feeding the masses requires vast and endless varieties of fruit. Cultivation and hybridization has served that need since the dawn of belief. So in my home we celebrate every view and every ideal. Because having a full and bountiful basket to choose from is far better than eating what you are handed.
Over thousands of years people have been marrying outside of their religious beliefs and practices. This marriage can be harmonious or not, but either way it produces offspring that believe and practice things differently than their parents. The cycle of change is never ending. But surprisingly the seeds that grow in the compost of many of the world’s great religions are not always healthy and fertile. Some of these can be called weeds. Pesky things that creep up almost overnight until they have begun to show up everywhere. Some of these weeds fail to get established and others find a place to live where they are appreciated and nurtured and then they are no longer considered a pest. They become accepted into the broader understanding. But the old stock religions, those that have evolved to outlast the weeds and perhaps even been grafted to far older beliefs. These are the great products of the religious compost heap. This cycle has actually changed and created some religious beliefs that we hold dear today. Buddhism is a product of religious compost. Just look at the various sects and regions of Buddhism. The root stock is solid. In many regions Buddhism was grafted to older more established religious practice and adopted by practitioners and scholars alike. Looking at the spread of Buddhism in the US, we can see the religious compost process in action. It has been adapted and incorporated into many different views within the last 50 years. And yet the fruits are still as appealing and nourishing as I imagine they were when the first seeds and pruned branches hit the bin. Feeding the masses requires vast and endless varieties of fruit. Cultivation and hybridization has served that need since the dawn of belief. So in my home we celebrate every view and every ideal. Because having a full and bountiful basket to choose from is far better than eating what you are handed.
Celebrate diversity
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