Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com\/c2\/7ed45e904ab9012f2fd100163e41dd5b\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html\",\"name\":\"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism","description":"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism","og_description":"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com\/c2\/7ed45e904ab9012f2fd100163e41dd5b"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html","name":"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00","dateModified":"2012-03-14T20:10:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"This Speed Bump cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we've succeeded, now let's keep","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":6823,"date":"2012-03-14T16:10:22","date_gmt":"2012-03-14T20:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=6823"},"modified":"2012-03-14T16:10:22","modified_gmt":"2012-03-14T20:10:22","slug":"evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/evolutionary-and-religious-exclusivism.html","title":{"rendered":"Evolutionary and Religious Exclusivism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/p>\n

This Speed Bump<\/a> cartoon got me thinking. The cartoon depicts what might be called an exclusivistic and egotistical ethos: we\u2019ve succeeded, now let\u2019s keep the advantages of doing so to ourselves.<\/p>\n

Exclusivism is found in religion, in nationalism, in economics, indeed in all areas of life.<\/p>\n

But perhaps it is worth observing that neither the story of life on this planet told by science, nor earlier ones that humans created which are now embedded in a variety of sacred and other ancient texts, naturally leads to selflessness rather than selfishness. Even in religions that emphasize concern for others and self-sacrifice, often we find people being concerned for others because they believe that they must do so in order to be rewarded themselves. Self-interest on the individual and collective levels are hard to combat.<\/p>\n

And so instead of dividing people into religious and non-religious categories, or sub-dividing beyond that, or distinguishing between nationalities, ethnicities, genders, or anything else that can be understood in terms of \u201cus vs. them,\u201d the biggest and most important distinction, cutting across all others, is between those who genuinely believe that it is worth loving and caring for others irrespective of recompense, and those whose morals or lack thereof ultimately lead back to a concern for one\u2019s own reputation, rewards, or immortal soul.<\/p>\n

Valuing others, valuing life, valuing anything at all is a matter of conviction, or perhaps one could even say \u201cfaith.\u201d It is a matter of placing value beyond anything that can be demonstrated objectively.<\/p>\n

It is a \u201cfaith\u201d that many religious people lack, while many people of no religious persuasion and of different religious persuasions share.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"