The Curse of Exclusivity

Exclusivity -- it seems to be the ultimate evil. You can believe a lot of stuff, but if you believe that your view is the only right view, that's wrong. It's arrogant. It's stupid. It's ... evil.

This revulsion toward exclusivity has its roots in the post-modern mind. Post-modernism believes that truth is relative. If truth is relative, how could any truth be the exclusive right truth? I mean, seriously folks, come on! What are you thinking?! It's so obvious that the simplest mind can see that!

Of course, it only takes the simplest of minds to see that there is a problem with that. Beginning with the empirical, 2+2 can only equal one number and no others. There is only one right answer to that mathematical equation. It isn't arrogance or ignorance or stupidity that leads you to answer "4". It's simply the truth. It would seem, then, that not all truth is relative. (If you would still like to believe it is, see how it goes over with you when the cashier at the local fast food joint short-changes you. It's the right change from their perspective. How dare you try to impose your reality on them? Yeah, I think you see it, too.)

Exclusivity shouldn't be such a problem to people. It is simply a result of standard logic. Everyone knows, "We can't both be right" when our viewpoints are in total opposition. In fact, it is the only reason to discuss when we disagree. If we could both be right with opposing viewpoints, we'd simply both be right and go on our way. There would be no reason to defend a view. The opposition is right, too! But logic demands that something cannot be both A and NOT A at the same time and in the same sense. So opposing views have to be discussed, defended, resolved.

It seems, in truth, that the claim of exclusivity only becomes a problem when it comes to religion. In America, all religions have equal protection under the law. Somehow we've construed that to mean that they have equal validity. Therefore, to claim that "My religion is valid and yours isn't" is the epitomé of arrogance. All religions are valid. Interestingly, nearly all religions make the claim to exclusivity. Very few say, "It just doesn't matter." Most claim to be the exclusive way, and the only hope the outsiders have is to convert to their beliefs. So, here we are, stuck with a logical difficulty. It defies the rules of logic for all religions to claim to be exclusive and be correct. They might all be wrong, logically, but they can't all be correct. If there is "a true religion", only one of them can be correct.

It would be nice if we could all just get along. Christians do have a problem, however. We claim to be followers of Christ. Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). The exclusivity claim in Christianity doesn't come from a perspective we hold, but from the One who founded Christianity. Now, if we are to be Christians -- "followers of Christ" -- we're in a dilemma. He said it. We can either follow it or not be followers. We can't be both. Here, think of it this way. I want to be just like Ted. Ted loves polyester slacks -- wears them all the time. They define him. Me? I hate polyester and only wear blue jeans. I might say I want to be "like Ted", but if I refuse to be like Ted, it's a lie. I'm not a "Tedian".

So, here I am, a Christian with a leader who claimed exclusivity. I understand that it might be offensive to some. I understand that it might sound arrogant. And God knows that I'm not smart enough to claim I'm always right and everyone else is wrong. But I'm stuck. If I want to be a follower of Christ, I have to agree with what He says ... and He claimed to be the exclusive path to God. True arrogance for me would be to say, "I'm a follower of Christ ... but He was wrong." Hey, I didn't claim that Christianity is the exclusive path to God. The One whom I follow did. I can either follow there, too, or stop being a follower, but I can't have it both ways. So maybe, just maybe, you who don't like the exclusive claim of Christianity could cut us some slack. We're stuck here.