What Can the Uncertainty Principle Teach Us about Religious Tolerance?

In The Uncertain Believer, I suggest a world in which humanity shares a common conception of God. While that world may not exist for many centuries, if ever, there is value in imagining what such a world would be like. In the meantime, how can we move toward greater tolerance and understanding about conflicting religious beliefs?

We can gain some insights from the uncertainty principle. As originally formulated by Werner Eisenberg, a German physicist, in 1926, the uncertainty principle has a narrow technical meaning: It is impossible to determine precisely the simultaneous position and momentum of a subatomic particle, such as an electron. We can identify probability distributions, but we cannot be certain of both variables at the same time. If we extend this idea more broadly, we can say that there are some important aspects of life about which we can never be certain.

Tom Boyd, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma, suggests that this idea can be important in our understanding of God and the role religious beliefs play in our lives. I believe what he has in mind is something like the following: Imagine two categories of religious beliefs. The first includes broad unifying ideas, such as the existence of God, somehow conceived, and the fundamental ideals for which God stands, particularly the obligation to love one another. All major religious traditions share those principles and we can feel, if not absolutely certain about them, very confident. However, when we begin to examine a second category of beliefs, for example, doctrines about the afterlife, religious rituals, and the precise nature of God and Jesus, we see drastic differences among religious traditions. At the same time, as we reflect on these more specific beliefs, we should realize that we cannot be certain about the correctness of them.

For example, if we feel the doctrines of our particular faith are grounded in the Bible, are we sure we have interpreted the Bible correctly? Are we relying on the Bible or are we really adopting beliefs that were developed by authorities in the church centuries after the Bible was written? And if these beliefs really do seem grounded in the Bible, is the Bible a reliable authority for those beliefs in the first place? Or are we making the mistake of accepting value judgments made by societies that were far less morally and intellectually advanced than our own? All these problems should make us more uncertain about the “details” of our religious creeds. And that uncertainty in turn should lead to humility and restraint about the rightness of our own beliefs.

The good thing is that uncertainty about the specifics need not lessen the strength of our faith or the commitment we feel to the broad principles of our religious tradition. It can, however, lead us to be more tolerant and respectful of the religious traditions of others.