This article was written by Rabbi Alan Freedman,
Senior Rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom and former iACT Board member. 

In a time of deep social and political division, religion has to have the potential to bring opportunities for unity and interaction. This seems no longer possible in the political arena.  I believe this despite the claim that religion itself is a consistent source of division.  It is true that there exists what is labeled as religious strife throughout the world.  But this strife arises when intolerant “religious” doctrines are wed to political and/or military power.  The potential for religion to promote unity, however, is based on factors that allow religious dialogue to be a safe space for disagreement without rancor.

First, religion ultimately focuses on that which is eternal rather than the political concerns of the here and now.  Certainly, religion requires immediate actions but those actions are in pursuit of eternal values beyond individual interests.  Religious people can disagree on policy to feed the hungry but all religious people acknowledge that there is an imperative that no one goes hungry.

Second, among these eternal values, is peace which is at the heart of all true religious doctrine.  The search for peace, both personal and societal, is included in every prayer ritual.  The imperative for peace can not only provide a basis for interaction among people holding different religious beliefs, it also sets an atmosphere in which rancor is seen as counter to the existence of holy space and time.  In order for this to be true, however, peace cannot be defined as a situation in which everyone believes the same.  True peace acknowledges differences and, in fact, utilizes those differences in the search for God.

Which brings me to the third reason that religion can be a source of unity and that is the often contentious nature of religious and theological life.  At first blush, that may sound counter-intuitive, but religious dialogue has figured out a way to promote disagreement among theologians and philosophers in pursuit of higher truths.  Jewish tradition teaches that all arguments which are for the sake of heaven will endure, that is, the lessons learned will remain vital throughout the ages.  If one acknowledges that the underlying goal of disagreement is to discover a higher truth, then that implies a certain humility about one’s own positions.

Thus reason number four is that all religions emphasize the imperfection of human beings in the face of the perfection of God.  Religious doctrine promotes a built-in sense of our own fallibility which should prevent us from making too strong a claim to our being the ultimate source of Truth.  The expression “God only knows” has endured for a reason.

Finally, religious time and space is generally viewed as being at its best when it is a safe haven for all who might wish to gather there. When one is gathered in sacred space, it somehow becomes more likely that personal interactions reflect a recognition that all peoples are created in the image of God.  The imagery contained in sacred space is a reminder that all of us are ultimately answerable to a Higher Being for how we treat each other.

For all of these reasons, I believe that religion has the potential to provide an alternative universe to that of political rancor and division.  As a Jew, I come from a tradition that is steeped in disagreement, but we are taught that the most contentious schools of thought, that of the sages Hillel and Shammi, ultimately had dinner together.  That is the opportunity that religion provides in this fractured world.