In many countries Christian Scientists, with the support of their branch church, are participating in local multifaith or interfaith groups. Thus they’re sharing their faith with other Christians and with those of other than Christian religions, as a way of letting their light shine and as a way of being neighborly.

Participation in a multifaith organization during some seven years made me a better person and a better Christian. It deepened my appreciation of the universality of the Christian precepts of love for God and for one’s fellow. It clarified for me that the great Christian commission is not to convert others but to see them in the reality of God’s perfection, the way that Jesus did (see Science and Health, pp. 476–477), and in this way bring about healing.

The ideal of loving God supremely and loving one’s fellow, rather than diminishing the unique redeeming work of Jesus, validates his teachings and shows their universal applicability. It also emphasizes that following Jesus’ example is the key to redemption.

As I’ve come to know people of a wide variety of faiths, I’ve learned that the basic discipline of striving to be more spiritually awake, more loving, more consecrated, more sensitive to and skilled at helping others, is essentially the same, irrespective of one’s religion. The task of living constantly the virtues of love, purity, goodness, courage, and joy in a contemporary setting, challenges everyone from every religious expression, as well as those with no formal religious ties. I have often been inspired by how those of other faiths express these and other qualities, and I’ve come to consider those of other faiths to be allies in building more compassionate and just societies around the world.

Mormons and Baha’is have frequently been the targets of persecution for their beliefs. Indeed, the founder of Mormonism and one of the founders of the Baha’i faith were killed by those who disagreed with their religion. And yet I’ve never seen anyone from these two groups express bitterness or resentment because of this persecution nor show anything but love when talking about furthering religious rights for all.

My Salvation Army friends who give themselves so fully to serving the have-nots in society have surely enriched my life and practice of Christianity.

Or consider the ancient Indian religion Jainism. A Jain friend has often inspired me through his care to harm no living creature as well as by his respect for all points of view.

Now, of course, I don’t know or agree with all the teachings of Jainism. If I did, I’d be a Jain! But since we’re all children of one infinite God, Spirit, why shouldn’t I look for that innate spirituality in everyone? In fact, doesn’t my own religion require that I see that there is one Mind and that this is the only Mind of every individual? (See, for example, Science and Health, p. 204:23–29.) To think this way is not to paper over theological distinctions nor to drop religious practice to some lowest common denominator. On the contrary, thinking like this demands that I look beyond the surface to seeing everyone in the spiritual reality of God’s love and perfection. It’s a demand that I practice the universal Science of Mind, the Science of Love.

One of the great Christian parables is that of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30–37). In it, Jesus tells of a Jewish traveller who is attacked by thieves and left almost dead. Two people pass by without helping the man, but then a Samaritan sees him. Now, Jews and Samaritans didn’t see eye to eye since they both felt that the other group didn’t worship God in the right way. But in Jesus’ parable it is the Samaritan who helps the man by binding up his wounds, taking him into the next town, and paying for his care.

The point? The fundamental question is not my neighbor’s religion but whether he or she needs help. The Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi reads: “Grant that I may not so much seek . . . to be understood, as to understand.” And in his first epistle to the Christian community at Corinth, Paul wrote, “Love seeketh not her own” (I Cor. 13:5).

The founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, transcended her time in her view of the importance of religious rights and respect for all religious views. Her main work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, emphasizes humility, purity of motive and deed, and charity toward all. Elsewhere, she writes: “What we love determines what we are. . . . I would no more quarrel with a man because of his religion than I would because of his art. . . . It is of comparatively little importance what a man thinks or believes he knows; the good that a man does is the one thing needful and the sole proof of rightness” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 270–271).

Richard Nenneman, in his book Persistent Pilgrim: The Life of Mary Baker Eddy, quotes Mary Baker Eddy: “In answer to Rev. Mr. Easton’s questions relative to the Hindus [I] will say, the true sense they entertain of humanity is the best part of Buddhism. And the sense of taking no thought for what we shall eat or drink, is Christ-like, for Jesus taught it. This therefore is far from self-mesmerism, rather is it a native Christianity which presages science—a denial of personal life and sensation that admits the existence of Being where it is, namely, in God not man, in Spirit not matter, in Soul not sense” (pp. 229–230).

Then Nenneman continues: “Although her references to Buddhism were not entirely correct, they do show some knowledge of the general tone of Buddhism as well as her appreciation for the validity and elements of commonality that might inhere in any of the world’s great religions.”

In some places around the world, where those of one religion are committing violence against those of another, greater religious tolerance would be a progressive step. But I believe that there’s a step beyond religious tolerance. If I say, “My neighbor is of a different religion; I’m spiritually mature, so I’ll tolerate him or her,” I believe that there is an element of self-righteousness in my thought. On the other hand, with religious acceptance, one supports another’s religious practice because that’s their sense of how to practice the innate spirituality that belongs to us all.

Of course, religious acceptance does not extend to supporting “religious” practices that are harmful or abusive. The Latin origin of the word religion means literally “to tie together.” Any religious practice that pulls down, excludes, divides, or even terrorizes, is not real religion at all, but only false qualities of mortal thought, masquerading as religion. Happily, such states of thought are a part of no one in their real being, and individuals thinking and acting in an ungodlike way are helped by the prayers and actions of all who are practicing love, mercy, and justice. Ultimately, the grace of the Holy Ghost will fully leaven all religious practice, including that of Christian Scientists.

Learning from those of other faiths has made me a better Christian. It has forced me to think in terms beyond denominationalism. It has deepened my appreciation of the teachings of Christ Jesus and caused me to want to practice those teachings more fully.