I read a quote last week that stayed with me. The quote said, “Buddha was not a Buddhist. Jesus was not a Christian. Mohammed was not a Muslim. They were teachers who taught love. Love was their religion.”
I don’t have enough insight to speak of the experience of the Buddha or Mohammed, but I do know a thing or two about Jesus. And yes, the quote is correct in pointing out that he wasn’t a Christian. But that is not to say he wasn’t religious. He was. He was called Rabbi, a title given to spiritual leaders within the Jewish community. The quote is also correct when it says Jesus never sought to start a new religion. He didn’t, and neither did the Buddha or Mohammed. None of these men had such lofty ambitions; rather, they wanted to draw their respective faith traditions back to what was important and valuable.
There is always a risk that any religion will become enamoured with its own power and influence and eventually morph into a movement that seeks to protect its privilege at the cost of its message and mission. The message that is coming from the Evangelical Christian movement in the US is an example of power and privilege subverting purpose. By adopting a political agenda that includes limiting the rights of some of the citizens in its nation and requiring its adherents to believe certain things if they hope to curry favour with God, they have created an expression of the Christian religion that is troubling at best, and downright frightening were it ever to become the guiding philosophy of a political movement that achieved power over its nation’s citizenry. Theocracies are never a good idea, regardless of the religion or ideology. Jesus spoke out against such abuses of religious privilege (he criticized his own religious leaders (the Pharisees) far more than he ever did the Romans), seeking instead to remind those of his day that nothing is more important than how we treat one another. Therefore, if a faith is not grounded in kindness, love, respect, dignity, inclusion and justice, it no longer has as its primary goal of cultivating the ideals that elevate humanity towards its own enlightenment.
We tend to listen to the loudest voice in the room. The loudest voice in Christian circles these days seems to come from those who equate faith with nationalism, individualism, and moral certitude. That is a toxic cocktail. The great spiritual masters of every great tradition would have none of that. They all emphasized the same thing – that we are at our best when we love each other, take care of each other, and walk with gentleness and gratitude on the earth.
People who set out to start a new religion should be looked upon with suspicion or ideally avoided altogether, but those who seek to be a voice drawing us back to what is of greatest value to our collective humanity deserve to have their voices heard. I’m quite certain that if any of the great spiritual masters were to walk among us again, they would say, “it’s love. It’s always been about love. It will always be about love.”
