“All Drains Lead to the Ocean”
If you recognize that quote, I’m incredibly proud of you. For those of you who were not properly introduced to the classic Pixar films of the early 2000’s, that is a quote from Finding Nemo.
In this particular scene, one fish was worried that the main character, Nemo, would not make it back to his father in the ocean after being flushed down a toilet in dentist’s office. Another fish responded with a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry – all drains lead to the ocean.”
If you have any common sense, you know that’s not true. Not even all drains located NEAR the ocean lead to it. That would be pretty gross if they did.
Believing this quote, even if it’s wrong, doesn’t really have any long-term consequences. However, it reminds me of a much more serious and consequential phrase that’s often quoted in our society today:
“It doesn’t matter what you believe – All roads lead to heaven.”
Ah yes. As long as you believe and are sincere in your belief, you’ll get to heaven. If you are a “good person,” and believe in your religion (or your supposed lack of religion) with all your heart, then you’re all good. Your truth is true for you, and mine is true for me. True tolerance is acknowledging the validity of ALL religions no matter what.
I would like to respectfully argue against this line of thinking.
Now, I am a strong Christian and believe that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for the sins of the world. However, I am not going to attempt to prove Christianity in this post (although there is a lot of evidence for it, this article on Answer in Genesis states some of the archaeological evidence for the Bible). But that is another post for another time. I simply aim to bust these myths and get you to think a bit more logically and objectively about what you believe, because I care about people too much to let them believe in something that results in long-term negative consequences for the sake of “tolerance.”
First off, since when did “tolerance” mean that I would agree with your beliefs even if I genuinely thought they were false? The true definition of “tolerance” according to the dictionary is this:
“The ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.”
Notice it doesn’t say “tolerance is the willingness to acknowledge the validity of opinions you don’t agree with.”
In other words, “tolerance” means “I don’t agree with your argument, but I still love and respect you as a person.”
With that in mind, let’s tackle the myth stating that “all roads lead to heaven.”
Recently, I’ve been reading a book called “Mama Bear Apologetics,” and I was compelled to write this post because of what I read today. The quote that challenged me to put my thoughts into words is located on page 190 of my copy:
“We cannot all be worshiping the same God if we define God in conflicting ways. Though different beliefs may be sincere, if they are contradictory, it means one of us is right and the rest are sincerely wrong, or all of us our wrong. The only nonviable option is that we are ALL correct.” (Emphasis added).
Basically, she’s saying that we have three options, and three options only:
1 – We are All Correct
This sounds super nice. Even if my truth directly contradicts yours, it’s okay because we can both be right in our own minds. There’s nothing wrong with this if it’s applied to subjective truth claims such as “I prefer peanut butter cookies over chocolate chip cookies.” Both can be true at the same time. Your favorite flavor is your favorite, and mine is my favorite. We can simultaneously be correct.
However, this thinking does not work for objective truth claims such as “2 + 2 = 4.” No matter how much we try, 1 + 2 will NEVER equal 4. In fact, I could come with an infinite number of equations that do not equal 4 in the end, and no amount of believing in them with all my heart and soul will make them equal 4 when they simply do not.
This is the only one of the three that CANNOT be true no matter what. It’s the only nonviable solution.
2 – We Are All Wrong
Theoretically, this one could be accurate. We could all be wrong. That’s totally possible. No one is right, and we’ve all failed miserably. However, if you adopt this mindset, then you can’t really believe in anything because you’ve already conformed to the idea that no one is right, not even you. And since it’s impossible for anyone NOT to have a worldview, it’s also impossible to adopt this mindset.
Even the statement “Everyone is wrong – even me.” is contradictory, because technically, your sentence contradicts itself. You just said your statement that everyone is wrong is also wrong…. so what do you really believe?
3 – One of Us is Right, and Everyone Else is Wrong
Society doesn’t really like this option. It requires conflict and debate. It’s not comfortable, nor easy. If you’re in math class and everyone gets a different answer, would the teacher be a good teacher if she said they were all correct because they sincerely believed they were right? No. There’s only one answer, and anyone who doesn’t have that answer written down is incorrect.
That may not be nice to hear, but it’s true.
Consider what would happen, if, this teacher were to say “It’s okay! You tried really hard and believe this so sincerely – therefore you are correct,” and then that student later used their own calculations to navigate a space shuttle with people in it with their version of math they believe in (instead of true, real, math). The results would be catastrophic to say the least. So tell me – why do we do this when our eternity is on the line? Even if you don’t call your worldview a religion, you still have a lot of consequences to deal with if you happen to be wrong.
By nature of the law of non-contradiction, if our beliefs contradict each other, they CANNOT all be true (even if we wish really hard and believe it to be so).
Conclusion
While I didn’t write this post to offend people, I did write it to get people to think and realize that eternity matters, and believing that everyone is right at the same time is very illogical and dangerous.
Firstly, I hope this encourages you to really dig into your worldview and make sure you really know WHY you believe what you believe. The Bible says,
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” – 1 Peter 3:15, NIV
As a Christian, I’ve been studying apologetics and other evidences for my faith for many years – I’m seeking truth because if the evidence doesn’t support my worldview, I would be foolish to hold to it. I strongly believe the Christian worldview is the one that makes the most sense with the evidence I’ve been presented with, and I don’t want to shy away from what I believe for fear of offending others.
The quote, “they never offended anyone and always conformed to popular opinion,” was never said about anyone of significance ever.
Secondly, I hope this prompts you to properly translate the word “tolerance.”
Tolerance does not equal blind acceptance. Not all “truths” can be true at the same time. It’s logically impossible. But it IS possible to respect and love people without agreeing with them. I personally strive to show God’s love to everyone, no matter what they believe, because it’s the right thing to do.
Do you know why you believe what you believe?
Until next time,
Hope Szymanski
