I am reading the Story of Pi by Yann Martel
The hero of the story, an Indian boy, decides he wants to be a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim, all at once. He is baptized by the Catholic priest, gets a prayer rug so he can face Mecca and pray four times a day, and visits the ashram for Hindu stories. When he is found out, he is told by the holy men of each religion he can only have one, but he doesn't understand why that must be so since they don't really contradict each other. I rather like the idea, myself. Why not take the best of each and celebrate God in every way possible?
"These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defense, not God's, that the self-righteous should rush."
Maybe some of our fundamentalists should consider joining each other's religions.
*****
My latest short story "Love and Eighties" is now at Black Coffee Fiction. http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com
The next in the series is "Love and the Nineties". I knew right away what "Love and the Eighties" was going to be but have not a clue about the Nineties. I guess I will go back to my old standbys, my scrapbooks, and see what was I was doing during that decade. Surely there are stories there.
The hero of the story, an Indian boy, decides he wants to be a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim, all at once. He is baptized by the Catholic priest, gets a prayer rug so he can face Mecca and pray four times a day, and visits the ashram for Hindu stories. When he is found out, he is told by the holy men of each religion he can only have one, but he doesn't understand why that must be so since they don't really contradict each other. I rather like the idea, myself. Why not take the best of each and celebrate God in every way possible?
"These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defense, not God's, that the self-righteous should rush."
Maybe some of our fundamentalists should consider joining each other's religions.
*****
My latest short story "Love and Eighties" is now at Black Coffee Fiction. http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com
The next in the series is "Love and the Nineties". I knew right away what "Love and the Eighties" was going to be but have not a clue about the Nineties. I guess I will go back to my old standbys, my scrapbooks, and see what was I was doing during that decade. Surely there are stories there.
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