Coexist

No doubt you have seen the bumper sticker that calls for all of us to “CO-EXIST.” It’s a nice sentiment and certainly a worthwhile admonition that we should all have respect for one another and learn to get along.

But if you look closely at the bumper sticker, you will see that the primary message is to the religious communities. On the “CO-EXIST” bumper sticker, the letters are formed primarily by various religions. For example, the “C” is the Muslim crescent. The “O” is the peace sign. The “X” is the Star of David. The “I” has a yin/yang symbol over the letter to symbolize eastern religions. Finally, the “T” is the Christian cross. So really the bumper sticker is a call for all the various religions and worldviews to get along.

There’s just one problem. The first of those letters (the Muslim crescent) represents a religious group that generally has a problem with co-existence. Of course some Muslims have made their peace with the modern world, which includes technology, equality, pluralism, tolerance, and civility. But a very large portion of the Muslim world is directly opposed to such ideas. In fact, in many places around the world, Muslims are literally at war against coexistence.

The other religions and philosophies in the bumper sticker have no problem with co-existence. Of course there are some exceptions, but generally these religious groups have been willing to coexist in democratic societies. In fact, if you were to take the Muslim crescent off the bumper sticker, you wouldn’t even need the bumper sticker.

This is what the late Samuel Huntington was trying to get across in his book, The Clash of Civilizations. There is an inevitable conflict between Western universalism and Muslim militancy. We can promote pluralism and civility to the Western world, but we are preaching to the wrong crowd. It is the Muslim world that has a problem with these concepts.

While it is true you probably won’t see many “CO-EXIST” bumper stickers on cars in a church parking lot, you will be even less likely to see them on cars parked by a Muslim mosque. Coexistence is a great idea, but let’s be realistic enough to understand which religion is most likely to resist it. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.