Thoughts on reaching across the aisle

Ah, the evangelical heavenly choir was singing loudly, I am sure, in response to the Rev. Bryan Griem’s take on the question, “What are your thoughts on interfaith marriage?” in the April 14 In Theory section of the Glendale News-Press.

His answer? “What a black-and-white issue. No!”

It is so refreshing to realize that after all the centuries that humankind has weathered on this wonderful planet Earth, that many of us are still a rather comatose, narrow-minded, pernicious and dogmatic lot.

It is with great hope that I feel one day we might all finally wake up, realize that hatred or plain distrust of other people’s religions and beliefs should be a thing of the past, and that we will be able to embrace all faiths, all beliefs, all marriages where love and understanding are paramount and where narrowness of the heart and soul are lost forever.

Hoping for that day is a stupid and naive thing to do, but I will believe in its stupid possibility forever. I have too.

What is a marriage, or a friendship for that matter, but an attempt to reach across the aisle, take someone else’s hand, and with a little luck and a lot of hard work, perhaps communicate, compromise and learn to respect one another so that life may be filled with creating truths and hopes for the future — and not one filled with the darkness of “my faith is good and yours is bad,” or “my God is right and yours is wrong.”

That to me is what is really a ‘black-and-white’ issue, Reverend Griem.

Dean Briggs
Glendale