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A pluralist society is one which embraces a plurality of religious claims to truth about God and the
human condition. Exclusivist Christians claim that only the truth that we proclaim about God and the
human condition is really true. All the other claims are bogus. Now the problem arises when these
exclusivist Christians, driven by their self-righteousness, take over the government — perhaps
through the appropriate democratic channels. Then their exclusive claim to knowing God's will and
human duty is incompatible with the government of a society which is open to an assortment of
different claims. This problem never occurs in Western society because exclusivist Christians can
never command a popular vote that would bring them political power. However, the Islamic world
knows this problem as a political and religious reality.
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