Religious institutions don’t like relativism because each institution thinks it’s the one with the answers. Some more than others. Then they teach people to toss the term around like it’s an error in thinking. When it comes to religion, relativism is simply an admission that while Catholics might believe one thing, and Protestants might believe something slightly different, Muslims believe something else and Hindus believe something efflse altogether, the truth of the matter is that nobody really knows anything. In truth, the only thing anyone knows for a fact about Jesus for instance is that he was one of at least 12 known self proclaimed Messiahs in Palestine at the time, and among those, he had the fewest followers, and like the rest, he was executed for sedition. After that, it’s all a matter of faith, and that’s all anyone really knows for a fact. You can rail about relativism all you like, but if you had some lock on the ultimate truth, this wouldn’t be an issue. Again, the truth is that nobody knows anything about what all of this is. The world could be anything. ANYTHING. We have no idea what it is or what we are or what consciousness is. Yet some people want everyone else to come to heel and acknowledge their own flavor of iron age mythology as being the ultimate truth. And the insanity of this position is evident in the foolish and petty ways it boils up to the surface of public discourse, for instance, with regard to who we make a cake for or a flower arrangement for. You do see how absolutely trivial that is, right? If you don’t, let me tell you - it’s trivial. As for relativism, well, surprise - the world around us is relative. Everything is relative. The only undeniable truth anyone can say with certainty is that we don’t know anything. And yet we pick on what other people believe.
All the best,
Gary