Matthew, this is a good piece. I certainly believe that there is a unity in spiritual or religious traditions but it is not in the beliefs of me or you—a one truth to which all should assent. I affirm that it is in the “us” and our quest for our common good however that is or has been or will be articulated in beliefs.

I do experience in us interacting a transcending quest for a transcendent reality. I agree with you that our belief in the individual above all, a problematic element in modern liberalism, is an obstacle that also must be transcended. “True belief,” an absolutizing of our culture, religion, philosophy, economy, and political theory and practice, is that obstacle. That “true belief” is the source of fundamentalism in culture and totalitarianism in politics that we must transcend to continue our journey and existence. The obstacle is transcended by critically engaging with the personal, historical, religious, national beliefs handed down to us or which ourselves have here.

This is my contention with the MAGA crowd, why education is critical thinking, why community building (including neighborhoods, nations, and international institutions) is a never ending struggle, and why democratic social change is that struggle for human progress.