Building A Better Religious Future

ON THE PLANET EARTH, in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, a miracle is taking place. It is called the Tri Faith Initiative, and may the dear lord help it to grow, and to sweep across the whole world. A thirty eight acre plot of land, with a stream running through it, has been purchased by a consortium, and the plan is to erect three houses of worship upon it: a Christian church, an Islamic mosque, and a jewish synagogue. The proximity will, it is believed, foster communication and healthy exchange, at least in Omaha. Perhaps members of all three congregations will feel at home in any of the three buildings. Representatives of all three faiths are convinced they are being called by God to achieve this, and they may be right. Is there room for the Buddhists and the Hindus to set up shop? What about the other religions in the world, which number over five thousand? Well, fkrst things first. One at a time. First, let's get the three "Abrahamic" religions on the right rack, getting along with each other, then, who knows? These three have been the troubled ones of the bunch, immersed in constant conflict and controversy with each other, century after long century. Perhaps this Tri Faith Initiative signals a change, although we must be careful not to be too optimistic. Perhaps there will come a time when there is but one world religion, a comprehensive faith unfettered by narrow dogma, sufficiently expansive in its theology to include us all. Or, for all we know, religion may be evolving its way out fo human culture, as we enter into a future in which the truth of science is as undeniable as religion has historically claimed to be. Either way, the future must surely be better than the benighted past, or the strife torn religious present. We can only hope, and try.