What if?!?!?!

Submitted by Craig Lee (United States), Nov 28, 2012 at 12:19

I grew up in the 50s and early 60s in a neighborhood of Compton California where you couldn't name an ethnic or religious group that wasn't represented. I was one of the neighborhood's "Three Musketeers." A, Jew, a Presbyterian and a Catholic. There were also, Hindus', Muslims', Greek Orthodox, Buddhists', Shinto's, other Protestants and even a fellow who's father was the minister of the local Church of the Nazarene. The three of us took a great deal of pride in our backgrounds, but also took time to understand and respect each other. Of course there were arguments and differences of opinions on issues, but we also took the time to investigate each other's religion. Being the Presbyterian in the group, I often found myself the mediator. When Rick (the Jew) had his Barmitzvah, (pardon the spelling) I saw to it that everybody attended including parents. Even today, some 50 plus years later, it was a childhood highlight that we all remember in detail. We played together in sports, we worked together on neighborhood projects, and helped each other out on our paper routs. Religion was a personal thing and not an everyday demand on our life.

What if tomorrow, an extra terrestrial landed at the UN building and presented to this world historical and irrefutable evidence that we had preexisted on another planet and were transplanted here and simply allowed to evolve and change based on our climate locations. That religion didn't exist anywhere else in the universe and that religion, in actuality, was the sole root of all of our inability to coexist as a species?

The three of us, long ago, came to the conclusion, that all of the world's trouble could/should be laid at the feet of religion. And those leaders of religions should be held accountable by all for the lack of understanding between their factions and that the only religious ideas put forth would/should be one of "tolerance of all and malice towards none." The only intolerant behavior would be reserved for those "of intolerance" and that would be handled with a "velvet glove."

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".