... Jesus, Moses, Muhammad and the Pope walk into a bar.
Oh wait ... I dare not complete that thought, as comedy about religious figureheads can get you killed. (Although, with Francis, my gut tells me that he'd probably get the humor and offer dispensation for any perceived slight.)
Yes, the world in which we live is full of extremists on *all* sides who scream out how their God is better than your God is better than my God is better than any God ... and how hatred of anyone unlike themselves can be justified via religious doctrines. Hatred that can start small and take the form of prejudice (hello many parts of America) or be writ large to lead to murder (hello France of the moment, or America on 9.11.01, or Nazi Germany six decades ago, or the church of England drama that spurred the founding of our country centuries before, or the crusades that lasted for decades in the dark ages [and spoiler alert -- never really ended]).
With apologies to Paul and the people of Corinth ... it seems like our bizarro world should have it be "and now these three remain: prejudice, persecution and obliteration, but the greatest of these is obliteration". Exterminate those unlike you so that you don't have to be challenged in your own way of thinking. Blame it on the high and holy ... for that is how you can export evil to all corners of the world and disguise it as good. Thus sayeth the Lord ... the Allah ... the Yahweh ... the Elohim ... the Jehovah ... the I AM.
How can so many have it so wrong ... and by the way, disagree with me, and I'll kill you. Or convince the weak-minded to do it for me. You're on notice. Because *that's* the way this works now.
MAYBE OUR CANADIAN FRIENDS HAVE IT RIGHT:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/aboutus.htm
FAITH AND POLITICS NOT SO EASILY "UN"ENTWINED:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/-sp-karen-armstrong-religious-violence-myth-secular
BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT ONE FINDS WHEN ONE GOOGLES THE POPE TODAY:
http://time.com/3661552/bernie-sanders-pope-francis/
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