I don’t believe any single religion owns heaven or God—even a religion that tries to include everyone. When I say I'm a universalist, what I really mean is that I don't believe you have to convert to any particular religion to find God. As I see it, God finds us, and it has nothing to do with subscribing to any particular religious view ... Universalism says that a theology of grace implies salvation for all, because if grace could be limited to some people and not to others,… it is in fact no grace at all ... grace is bigger than any religion.
One of my earlier titles for this book was I'm a Universalist Who Believes in Hell. The problem is that when I say "universalist" I say it with tongue firmly in cheek ... I'm attracted to universalism insofar as it acknowledges that many of the world's religions contain true and valuable insights. On the other hand, universalism, as it is traditionally understood, still focuses on religion as the way forward, and I do not.