jolanda: metaphysical taoism is very pluralistic. it sees ALL religions as different but part of the whole. this way, every religion is respected equally. the reason for this is that all gods are children of tao, including, for example, the christian god and the taoist gods. each god has their own "realm" in the universe. the religions of the world all belong to tao and co-exist harmoniously. in the metaphysical understanding of tao, tao is mother and the universe is the fetus just like it says in the dao de jing 42.
