Also

Just wanted to add this excerpt from De Mello's book The Song of the Bird that illustrates the point of my last post.

The World Fair of Religions – Anthony De Mello

My friend and I went to the fair. THE WORLD FAIR OF RELIGIONS. Not a trade fair. But the competition was as fierce, the propaganda loud.

At the Jewish stall we were given handouts that said that God was all-compassionate and the Jews were his Chosen People. The Jews. No other people were as chosen as they.

At the Moslem stall we learned that God was all-merciful and Mohammed is his only Prophet. Salvation comes from listening to God’s Prophet.

At the Christian stall we discovered that God is love and there is no salvation outside the Church. Join the Church or risk eternal damnation.

On the way out I asked my friend, “What do you think of God?” He replied, “He is bigoted, fanatical, and cruel.”

Back home, I said to God, “How do you put up with this sort of thing, Lord? Don’t you see they have been giving you a bad name for centuries?”

God said, “It wasn’t I who organized the fair. In fact, I’d be too ashamed to visit it.”

Apply the religious aspects of Christianity to religion; apply the historical aspects to history, the literary aspects to literature, etc.