137 - Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs

Worldviews: Crosscultural
Explorations of Human Beliefs
By Ninian Smart
New York, Scribner's, 1983. 190 pp. $12.95.

If there is a need to be understood by others, there is also a need to understand others. As much as we might agree to both these propositions, and see that the one logically entails the other, human beings, whatever the religious or ideological persuasion, have been much more exercised about the first task than the second. We have wanted our point of view understood, fairly and thoroughly and open-mindedly, but have been little motivated to reciprocate when it come to viewpoints significantly different from our own.

This is, basically, the problem which Ninian Smart addresses in Worldviews. He is aided in this by a personal sense of fairplay, and a genuine concern to understand, as sympathetically as possible, the experience and reasons on which other worldviews are based. Citing an American Indian proverb, "Never judge a man 'till you have walked a mile in his moccasins," Smart advocates "moccasin-walking" among the religions and ideologies of the world; this has characterized his previous books, such as The Long Search and The Religious Experience of Mankind.

Smart is also aided in this quest by several other motivating factors. One is the new globalism which has increasingly brought diverse peoples and perspectives together, to the point that we can no longer ignore or denigrate or dismiss others as easily as we could when Tibetans were only in Tibet and Muslims minded their own business in the deserts of Arabia. The new globalism, and the technological capacities that have helped create the "global village," have also intensified conflicts between peoples, and especially the consequences of these conflicts. Mutual understanding has now become an absolute necessity for large-scale human survival-if for no other reason.

On the more positive side, the new globalism has also brought about a new cross-cultural environment in which we have begun to share one another's artifacts, insights, and heroes. Ancient Chinese Taoism, though largely forgotten in China, has had an important influence on the Western environmental movement. Mahatma Gandhi was not just a leader in the Indian opposition to British rule, but his story has become an inspiration to many peoples, including the British, and such diverse groups as the Civil Rights Movement and the Academy Awards of Hollywood. On other fronts, the Japanese listen to Beethoven and play baseball, while Americans buy Japanese televisions and automobiles and eat sushi. The world of radio has now invaded the most primitive villages, abruptly thrusting even stone-age listeners into the world of twentieth century modernity. The competition between democratic and socialist ideologies has descended upon these formerly remote regions as well, enlisting them in political causes and social theories hitherto unkown. "Its a small world, after all."

In response to the rapidly changing situation, Ninian Smart proposes ways of increasing cross-cultural empathy and understanding. He refers to his approach as "worldview analysis" because the allegiances in competition, and often in conflict, are not only religious but secular and ideological. The method employed is multi-disciplinary,

138 - Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs

for he draws upon the various fields which help to illuminate the diverse worldviews: history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology, art, etc., as well as traditional areas of religious studies.

The actual result in this book, however, is a disappointment, partly because the book seems to have been written with an eye to the college market as a general text for introductory courses in religion. Little new is added to the discussion of the various world religions and secular worldviews, or to the methods of studying them. Nor is there a solid treatment of the inevitable and fundamental question of what to do with the truthclaims and normative issues such an exploration runs headlong into. On the other hand, given the popular level at which the book is written, the formidable task of accommodating all major religions and ideologies, and the sheer complexity of the issues involved, the book can serve to open up the problem of contemporary pluralism, and to suggest some ways to begin reflecting on it.

Conrad Hyers
Gustavus Adolphus College
St. Peter, Minn.