How will we treat our neighbors? Will we regard this
rich religious diversity as a strength - a deep well of spiritual
blessing? Will we regard religious diversity as a threat and a danger
to "our way of life?"
As a Christian, my faith compels me to choose
hospitality. How are we to respond to the alien, the foreigner and the
sojourner in the land? With justice, kindness and mercy.
We welcome the stranger and make her feel at home.
Why? Because at one time, we were strangers in the
land.
In so doing, we may discover, as I have, that our
faith will not be compromised by learning the wisdom from people who
practice other religions, like my Jain friend from Lowville. On the
contrary, our faith and our nation will be enriched.
Perhaps, we are not "one nation under God"
after all.
A more accurate description of our country may be
that we are "one nation under many gods" whom (we hope) will
all "get along wonderfully."
