Islam, Judaism and Religious Revival

In 1970, more than half of America’s Catholics said they went to Mass at least once a week. By 2022, that had fallen to 17%, according to CARA, a research center affiliated with Georgetown University. Among millennials, the number is just 9%.

The US Catholic population has jumped to more than 70 million, driven in part by immigration from Latin America, yet ever-fewer Catholics are involved in the church’s most important rites. Infant baptisms have fallen from 1.2 million in 1965 to 440,000 in 2021, CARA says. Catholic marriages have dropped by well over two-thirds.

Catholics are not the only group that often rejects the teachings of their church. Ligonier Ministries has been conducting an annual poll that asks very specific doctrinal questions. Among evangelicals who took part in this questionnaire, here are some notable findings:
26% did not believe that the Bible was literally true.
43% said that “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.”
57% agreed that, “everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.”
56% believe that “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” These are religious people who could fit into Islam or Judaism.

In an article published December 26, 2020 by Islamicity, I predicted a coming religious revival in the USA and the UK based on four recent religious surveys. One was a Pew Research survey of 14 countries with advanced economies and large secular populations. According to the survey in the United States, 28% of Americans said the COVID-19 pandemic made their faith stronger.

Nearly half of white evangelicals in the US (49%) said their faith grew stronger due to the coronavirus outbreak. US Catholics came in second, with 35% saying their faith increased. Among mainline Protestants, 21% said the pandemic bolstered their faith. And 5% of Americans who do not affiliate with any religion said their faith in something grew. And even in the UK 10% said the COVID-19 pandemic made their faith stronger.

And 84% of people between the ages of 50 and 80 say that they have religious and/or spiritual beliefs that are somewhat or very important to them, including 71% who cited religious beliefs and 80% who cited spiritual beliefs, according to new data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. About 40% of these older adults say those beliefs have gotten more important to them as they grow older.

Among older adults with religious or spiritual beliefs that are important to them, 19% say their beliefs have influenced their health care decisions, and 28% say they want health care providers to ask them about their beliefs. Meanwhile, 77% of all older adults, regardless of beliefs, say health care providers should keep their own personal beliefs separate from how they deliver care.

This is especially important for America’s Islamic and Jewish leaders because non-Orthodox Judaism and moderate Islam are strong proponents of Religious Pluralism: “Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 2:62)

A survey of over 35,000 Americans in 2008 found that most Americans agree with the statement: many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life. Among those affiliated with some religious tradition, seven-in-ten say many religions can lead to eternal life.

This view is shared by most adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including 82% of Jews, 79% of Catholics, 57% of evangelical Protestants, and 56% of Muslims. (From the US Religious Landscape Survey 2008, Pew Research Center.)

Thus, in the 21st century, in the United States, most Christians, Jews, and Muslims have rejected the ‘only one truth’ religious mindset and believe in the Qur’an’s pluralism teachings: “For every one of you did We appoint a law and a way. If Allah had wanted, He could have made you one people, but (He didn’t) that He might test you in what He gave you. Therefore compete with one another to hasten to do virtuous deeds; for all return to Allah (for judgment), so He will let you know [about] that in which you differed.” [Qur’an 5:48]

Only those who reject God by total disbelief or by unrepentant evil activities will be the losers when Judgement Day comes. Although many, perhaps most ‘only one truth’ religious mindset theologians will learn that they might not be as smart as they thought they were.

It is essential to understand that ‘religious pluralism is the will of God’ differs from religious, moral, or cultural relativism. Relativism teaches that all values and standards are subjective, and therefore there is no higher spiritual authority available for setting ethical standards or making moral judgments. Thus, issues of justice, truth, or human rights are, like beauty, just in the eye of the beholder.

Most people, especially those who believe that One God created all of us, refuse to believe that ethics and human rights are simply a matter of taste. Religious pluralism as the will of God is the opposite of cultural or philosophical relativism.

The fundamental idea of supporting religious pluralism is that religious people need to embrace humility in many religious areas. All religions have always taught a traditional anti self – centered personal egoism type of humility.

Religious pluralism also opposes a religious, philosophical, and self-righteous intellectual egoism that promotes a tendency to turn our legitimate love for our prophet and Divine revelation into universal truths that we fully understand and know how to apply. Religious pluralism teaches that finite humans, even the most intelligent and pious of them, can not fully understand everything the way the infinite One does.

This is true, for every human being, even for God’s messengers themselves. When prophet Moses, “who God spoke with face to face, as a person speaks with a friend” (Exodus 33:11) asks to see God face to face, he is told, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see My face and live.” (Exodus 33:20)

Similarly, in the Qur’an prophet Jesus admits to God, “You know everything that is within myself, whereas I do not know what is within Yourself”.(Matthew 5:116) And when Prophet Jesus was asked, in private, by his disciples, “What will be the sign for your coming (back) and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus warns his disciples about upheavals and false Messiahs that will come. Then Jesus concluded by saying, “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not even the son: only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

A similar statement was made by Prophet Muhammad when he was asked, “Tell me about the Hour”. He said: “The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner.” (Muslim Book 1 Hadith 1&4) God taught the general principle of epistemological humility through his Prophet who taught his followers, “I am no novelty among the messengers. I do not know what will be done to me, or to you.” (Qur’an 46:9) In truth, the only universal truth should be the humility to admit: “Only God knows.”

As the Jewish Prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-29 and (Acts 2:16) make clear: “After all of this I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your elderly will have prophetic dreams; and your young men will see visions. Even on male and female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days” Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, the author of the new book “For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today,” said that since October 7th he’s seen engagement from “within and beyond the boundaries of the conventional Jewish community” at a level he’s never before witnessed. This has included increased synagogue membership, expanded enrollment in Hebrew-school programs, full houses at Shabbat services—and oversubscribed courses for people interested in becoming Jewish.

The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (Qur’an 16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided.

If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)

Finally: “Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; and gives wealth despite love for it to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.” (Quran 2:177)

Most of us cannot ignore the global threats that are constantly reported in the news. But rather than seeking comfort in conspiracy theories or polarized thinking, we can strive to make the world around us a better place by increasing our participation in positive political and religious activities.