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Religious Literacy
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
It was the late 1400s in India. Religious fanaticism combined with the caste system to create a culture where the ruling Mughals could and did round up commoners and slaughter them solely to slake their royal hounds’ thirst for blood.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
As I dug deeper into his website I discovered a 28-minute video clip of a talk he gave several years ago at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Weldon Spring, MO. The talk was on Christian-Muslim relations. He was speaking passionately about increasing understanding between these two religious traditions. Turns out this is what he does. He says his calling is to increase the level of religious literacy in the world. Greater understanding paves the way to greater tolerance. He goes on to say that for him it’s more than work—it’s a divine inspiration.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
Fear breaks down a man’s sense of brotherhood. Make a man afraid, and he takes refuge in superstition.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
In doing these things He sat in council with Adam. “Lord,” said Adam, “will You not grant us a gift—a miracle that happens not just once, but throughout eternity, as a daily reminder of Your grace and of Your presence in each person’s heart?”
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
The fear and suspicion of the sudden influx of foreigners in general and Irish-Catholics in particular spawned a political movement known variously as the “Native American Party” or the “American Party,” but more broadly as the “Know-Nothing Party.”
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
Well, is religion that dangerous or irrelevant? Should we consider being evangelical about the gospel of Nothingness? Shall we take John Lennon at his word and “imagine” no religion, no heaven above, “living only for today?”
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
No one’s religion was cause for offense. No difference in color, social standing, job or education impacted the way we interacted.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
There’s a Jewish legend about what happens to us before we are born. An Angel appears and introduces us to all the high and low places in the world, all the great works of Nature, all the important and trivial affairs of men.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
Two things happened today that prompted this blog. 1. My Mormon neighbors invited me to a Christmas service. Of course I accepted the invitation. 2. And an article came out claiming that the Mormons have squirreled away some 100 billion dollars for charitable purposes. And holy moly good on them.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
I’ll admit it, I’m kind of a sucker for those singing competition shows. Please understand, I’m not a singer, and I’ve never had any aspirations of singing into a microphone or in front of a crowd. But listening to people who can do it, and do it well, can really make my day.
