In engaging with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s Not In God’s Name, I’ve drawn from the Christian perspectives of Richard Rohr and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the broader insights of the Perennial tradition via Leibniz and Huxley, to reflect to provide a critique of Sacks’s ideas, particularly his treatment of religious interpretation and the role of faith in societal conflicts.
Sacks’s central thesis – that much religious violence stems from a misguided belief in “altruistic evil” – is a compelling one. His analysis of the sibling rivalry and “us vs. them” mentalities that have so often pitted the Abrahamic faiths against one another is illuminating. And his call for a “theology of difference” that celebrates diversity is a noble aspiration that leans into modern successes such as the UN’s Multi-Religious Council of Leaders.
However, as an outside observer with a background in great texts, I find myself questioning certain aspects of Sacks’s perspective. In particular, his tendency to focus primarily on the Abrahamic traditions as the locus of both the problem and the solution reveals a potential blind spot. The harsh reality is that religious violence and intolerance have plagued a wide array of belief systems throughout history, not just those within the Judeo-Christian-Islamic lineage.
This bias towards the Abrahamic faiths is problematic, as it risks overshadowing the insights that can be gained from engaging with the broader “Perennial tradition”, a philosophical framework which emphasizes the commonalities and universal ethical principles shared across diverse religious and spiritual worldviews – a perspective that could offer a more expansive and inclusive path forward.
I also take issue with Sacks’s argument that religion is either powerfully convenient or necessary because it enables a group identity, and that without it, societies will suffer. This strikes me as a weak justification for maintaining legacy religious traditions. Biology tells us that as a population grows, it will find balance with its environment. If anything, the higher birthrates often associated with religious populations reveal an inherent unwillingness to find equilibrium, driven by an aggressive need to prosper and multiply, or that more religious populations correspond with poverty and unreliable access to modern medicine, which would also result in exponential population growth.
Turning to the Christian thinkers, Richard Rohr’s critique of Christianity’s emphasis on top-down authority and dogma resonates strongly. Rohr argues that this has often led to a toxic blend of self-righteousness and a willingness to dominate others. In this light, the church’s complicity in some of humanity’s darkest chapters is difficult to ignore.
Similarly, J.R.R. Tolkien’s influential writings offer a compelling counterpoint to Sacks’s claims about the societal necessity of religion. Tolkien’s vision of small, humble communities living in harmony with nature stands in stark contrast to the patterns of religious tribalism, conquest, and resource exploitation that have so often played out throughout history.
Perhaps most importantly, both Rohr and Tolkien advocate for a focus on empathy, humility, and a respect for all of God’s creation – values that speak to the essence of the Perennial tradition’s call to alleviate suffering and cultivate universal ethical principles. This stands in contrast to Sacks’s focus on doctrinal correctness as a solution to religious violence.
The path forward is not as simple as finding a common ethical foundation within the Abrahamic faiths. The cycles of violence, intolerance, and dogma have vacillated through the generations, with our worst often inspiring our best, and vice versa. Perhaps Sacks is right that these ancient traditions share an underlying ethical framework, but history has shown that this alone is insufficient to resolve the deep-seated divisions that have plagued organized religion.
Instead, I believe the way forward lies in transcending the confines of any single religious tradition and embracing the universal values at the heart of the Perennial philosophy. By cultivating empathy, humility, and a reverence for all of creation, we may begin to address the root causes of religious violence and intolerance, moving towards a more just, equitable, and compassionate world. It is a lofty goal, to be sure, but one that feels increasingly necessary in our polarized times.
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