Flatlined Religion

This passage from Diana Eck's book, Encountering God, gave me a glimmer of hope that my family may in fact be able to reconcile and accept my non-belief in juxtaposition to their theistic beliefs of which I no longer subscribe. It is important to note, however, that some numerical minorities do not have an exclusivist consciousness at all. The native peoples of the Americas, for example, while being protective of their rites and lifeways, also see the truth in other ways and paths. Over forty years ago, Chief White Calf of the Blackfeet of Montana offered a critique of Christian exclusivism that was very expressive of Native American attitudes. As an old man, in the summer of 1958 he told the story of creation to one Richard Lancaster, whom he called his son. I am Chief White Calf of the Blackfeet, and I am one hundred and one years old, and I give you this story that I got from my father, Last Gun, who got it from the old men of the tribe...You are my son and I give it to you. O...