I lead today with a Lakota proverb that is not part of the official Lakota Code of Ethics. It is proverb about Coercion. It says, “Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.” I have quoted this proverb before when focusing on principles of leadership. In this post, the focus shifts to forcing religious beliefs.
We call actions designed to “convert” or “win” people from one set of religious beliefs to another by various names. We label those actions “evangelism,” “proselytism,” “conversion,” “brainwashing” and they all smack of force. No matter how you color them or drape them in Spiritualistic jargon, they carry the perspective of force.
Attempts to force religious beliefs on others are, in some respects, acts of violence. We push and shove and cajole and shame others who believe differently than we. And we do so, often in the name of God and with an air of superiority. We often work to project an air of love to mask our assaults on the sanctity of the individual human spirit. We assume that others who believe differently than we, are heathen, infidels, pagan, lost.
I’m not sure I understand completely the verse from the Christian Scripture that says, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” but I do know that part of the original Greek slant is that we are “to continually work to bring something to completion or fruition.” In that sense, the responsibility to determine personal salvation or the validity of core religious beliefs falls squarely on the shoulders individuals. It does not open the door for coercion of any kind.
The Lakota, in their Code of Ethics, encourage us to “Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others.” Pure. Simple. Straight forward. We are to Respect the religious beliefs of others and avoid attempts to force ours on them. Period!
I like this approach. It answers the question of what to do with religious beliefs in simple terms. Live your own and leave those of others alone! I know that these words may rile some of my Christian friends but I believe that if we were to practice this type of Respect, we just might avoid much of the Resistance we experience in our world. We just might . . .
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
