Mystics have always observed that the intellect sees divisions whereas the soul perceives the underlying unity of existence. Religion, for mystics like Swami Vivekananda, is the art of returning human consciousness from fragmentation to unity. He would have disagreed with scholars like Prothero who put their emphasis on the differences between faiths. Vivekananda believed that we do religion a service rather than an offense when we remind it of its mission to heal the divisions between us and within us.
Many of course need no reminding. While many have used their religion as a pretext for acts of hatred and intolerance, this distortion of the religious spirit should not blind us to the untold millions who serve in soup kitchens in the basements of churches, synagogue and mosques, who are motivated by their religious commitment to stand for social justice and to reach out to neighbors who are in trouble.
The wrong kind of religion convinces its followers that they alone possess the key to Truth. The right kind, according to Vivekananda, helps to make one more compassionate, humbler in the face of the Great Mystery, and tolerant of inevitable human differences. The fact that so many believers (and nonbelievers alike) fail to live up to these exalted ideals should not be allowed to overshadow the liberating message of Oneness which is at the heart of faith.
"Truth is one, the wise call it by many names," Swami Vivekananda proclaimed in Chicago. More than 100 years later, this is a lesson that we still need to learn.
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