on religious pluralism

A letter I wrote to a local newspaper (it's hard trying to keep letters to the editor as short as possible):

"Though I have little objection to much of Mr. X's letter, his third point, “that all religions, as long as they carry roughly the same ideals, such as peace, love, kindness and empathy, are a path to God”, strikes me as being implausible.

This view is commonly called religious pluralism. While it’s true that the world’s great religions share some common moral beliefs and values (kindness, love, etc.), there are fundamental and incompatible differences in their essential beliefs that separate them. For example, some religions believe in one god, others in many gods. Some believe in a personal god, others an impersonal one. Some believe god is totally distinct from the universe, others believe that the universe and god are the same.

Similarly, some religions believe in a physical afterlife, others in a purely spiritual one, while others still believe that our existence ends at death. Similar differences exist in most of the major doctrines held by these religions. These beliefs are mutually exclusive and cannot all be true at the same time.

One philosopher has pointed out that “far from teaching the same thing, the major religions have radically different perspectives on the religious ultimate, the human predicament, and the nature of salvation.” This being the case, we are faced with two options: 1) All religions are wrong; or 2) One religion is right and all others are wrong. So, the view that different religions all lead to god is wrong.

But why do some people hold to this pluralist view? One reason is that they consider espousing only one religion to be true (commonly called religious exclusivism) to be arrogant. The problem with this reason is that it is self-contradictory. The pluralist believes that his view is exclusively true and that the religious exclusivist is wrong. Thus, pluralism is just as exclusivistic as the religious exclusivism that the pluralist opposes. The pluralist, then, is left with two possibilities: 1) Live with a self-contradictory belief; or 2) Abandon pluralism.

Is it possible to know if one of the religions is the true one? Any true religion will most likely be logical and fit the facts known through experience. I follow the lead of those who think that any religion worth following will be open to (indeed, invite) critical examination of its truth claims. And any view about religion, such as pluralism, ought to do the same."