Seeming transformational parity is not, however, Hick's only reason for believing non-pluralistic salvific perspectives to be untenable.
In an ironic twist, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with his close ties to Saudi Arabia is groping with a dilemma similar to that of the kingdom: how to roll back associations with puritan, intolerant, non-pluralistic interpretations of Islam that hinder domestic economic and social progress and threaten to isolate his country internationally.
But as adherents and advocates of a non-proselytizing, non-exclusivist, pluralistic tradition, we at the Hindu American Foundation have always asked -- the religious freedom of whom?
The lawyers' movement was, he explains, non-violent, pluralistic and in favour of "moderate" values.
As my friend and colleague Paul Raushenbush has noted, "their very existence offers the most convincing testimony for progressive, non-literal, rational, pluralistic and compassionate religious expressions".
"As a pluralistic, non-sectarian, and democratic state, and a close partner of the United States, India should have the confidence to allow our visit," said Commission Chairman Robert George in a press release.
The freedom of foreign missionaries to proselytize and prey upon vulnerable, generally poor people to convert them to a myopic religious worldview that denigrates or denies the legitimacy of all other traditions, or that of adherents of mostly non-exclusivist and pluralistic traditions, to be treated medically, educated, or employed without having to sell their souls?
But as time has gone on I have to admit that I also appreciate what they are doing for the gay rights movement and how their very existence offers the most convincing testimony for progressive, non-literal, rational, pluralistic and compassionate religious expressions.
Yet the Brexit vote also points up just how much work needs to be done by those who believe in a society that is pluralistic, pro-free-trade, non-isolationist and pro-immigration.
While that is no doubt true, it applies to persons and groups that see violence as a legitimate tool but misses the mark when applied to non-violent critics, particularly proponents of a pluralistic, democratic environment and/or forms of Islamic governance that challenge monarchical autocracy.
