Religious pluralism is neither mere coexistence nor forced consensus, but the conviction that people who believe in different creeds can learn to live together with, in the words of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, “mutual trust and mutual loyalty.” It surpasses mere tolerance of diversity and requires that people of different religions affirm their distinct beliefs while making commitments to one another and the world we share. Three components which hold true for a pluralist society are respect for religious identity, mutually inspiring relationships, and common action for the common good.

Young people have always been at the forefront of social change movements. Two great examples of this are Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., who was 26 years old when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and His Holiness the Dalai Llama who was 18 years old when he was forced to lead his government into exile in India and began his campaign for a free Tibet. The rich social inheritance of youth who have changed the world serves to inspire young interfaith leaders today to collaborate to fulfill the goal of building religious pluralism in the world. It was in recognition of the power of youth for social change that inspired a group of religiously diverse young people to found the Interfaith Youth Core.

One hundred years ago, the great African-American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois warned that the problem of the 20th century would be what he called “the problem of the color line.” The 21st century might well be dominated by a different line, no less divisive and no less violent: the faith line. The faith line does not divide people of divergent faith traditions, or religious people from secular people. Instead, this line divides religious totalitarians from religious pluralists.

On one side of the line, religious totalitarians believe that their way of life is the only legitimate way; they convert, kill and condemn those who are different. On this side of the line stand all those religious extremists, from the KKK to the radical remnants of the Kach party in Israel, who are willing to act against others who do not fit into their restricted worldview. On the other side of the line are religious pluralists like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who believe that peaceful coexistence is possible with the willingness to invest the effort to get to know each other and come together around common goals.