Changes in Religions
Re “Vatican Lights Its First Candle for Hanukkah,” Dec. 24:
I am pleased that the Catholic Church is now willing to treat another religion (Judaism) with respect, just as I was pleased when it was finally willing to acknowledge the superiority of Copernicus’ astronomy over Ptolemy’s, and just as I was pleased when Orthodox Christian leader His All Holiness Bartholomew I last month declared that degradation of the natural world is “sin.”
Corrections to flawed policies of the past remind me that even with the most noble of intentions, there is no human institution that is not imperfect. So I conclude that no religion is capable of giving the ultimate word on what God wants, because no humans (not even when interpreting the words of their prophets) can ever truly see the complete picture with the omniscience of God.
Each member of the human race would do well, while seeking spiritual community and understanding, to always keep a corner of the mind separate from total surrender to the religious tenets that he or she “knows” are “the only truth”; and in that autonomous corner of the mind, ask the question, “Is this action truly putting honesty, love and kindness above all other more base human drives?” “Am I sure?”
MAGGIE BLANKLEY
Los Angeles
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