These Times

A grand unified theory for religion

Kirk Ericson | Apr 11, 20240

“When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.” — Abraham Lincoln

The grand unified theory in physics is the belief that there is a single explanation that can predict all the behaviors of all the forces in the universe.

Theoretical physicists are searching for that elegant explanation of why forces behave the way they do, from the subatomic to the outer bands of the universe.

Could there be a grand unified theory for the world’s religions? Could there be a thread that connects all the various ways humans have codified a relationship with a superior being?

Think of it this way. Say you put all the world’s religions into a vegetable juicer. What distilled substance would come out of the spout?

Would it be something along the lines of, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself?” Or, “Know yourself?” Perhaps, “Be kind to all living things?” Maybe it could be a single word, such as “think,” “hope” or “love.” Perhaps it could be an inexpressible emotion, like that feeling you get when you realize you’re glad to be alive.

Maybe it would be something incomprehensible. You must honor the color purple. Just imagine the people who would be out of work if that were so.

Here’s another way to look at this. Take all the religions and start eliminating all the elements they don’t share. Monotheism? Gone. The belief in an afterlife? Gone. The idea that a superior being controls the actions of humans? Gone.

What are you left with? Perhaps it’s the same message as when you combine all the religions.

It’s conceivable that many atheists and agnostics are already in sync with what many religious believers believe, and that many believers are in sync with what many atheists and agnostics believe. Because a reasoned, engaged, compassionate and genuinely happy life is not the exclusive domain of religions. Nor does not belonging to a religion automatically make you reasoned, engaged, compassionate and happy.

This matter of what all religions share can be maddening, especially when we hear religious folks carry on as though they know what is unknowable. You see it in tahe extremes of religions, and in the extremes of nonbelief: We have the truth and the others do not.

I believe it’s possible to have doubt and faith co-exist in one’s relationship or lack of relationship with a superior being. I believe it’s possible for religions to have seemingly contradictory tenets and still be in accord on some level.

I believe it’s possible to be a Buddhist, a Christian, a Muslim, a Wiccan, a Sikh, a Jew, a Hindu, an animist, a Rastafarian or a Taoist — simultaneously. The impulse to believe in something beyond oneself is something they share.

If we could discover that grand unified theory for religion — and we could get people to accept it — we could eliminate the wars that arise from people believing their religion or nonreligion is the right one and that all the other religions and nonreligions are the wrong ones.

And instead of focusing on another world existing beyond this life, perhaps more of us could spend more time creating a better home for those who come after us. What kind of work can we do now, what kind of relationships can we have now, what kind of acts can we commit now to improve those future lives? That’s the real afterlife.

Amen.

For real.