Some people try to unite people. They try to bring them together to show them what they have in common and have them celebrate, rather than fear and denigrate, what is indeed different about them.

Many great people, like Elaine Pagels, Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers and the Dalai Lama among others give simple to understand, yet deep and nuanced explanations and paint vivid pictures of diversity in world religion, faiths and philosophies and why they matter. They explain that all are beautiful in their own way, that man is both a rational and scientific creature and an emotional and spiritual creature.

When matters of the spirit become socio-political contructs for the machines of politics, profit, social manipulation and war, the world of the spirit becomes moot.

I too have been one of those people. My creedo is found in the line from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass "I practice all religions I accept all faiths."

Then there are those who through fear, anger, intolerance, misunderstanding, desire and the projection of personal or societal shortcomings onto others seek to divide and conquer. They also tend to engage in the aforementioned corruptions of spiritual life as well.

What I call the new "American Orthodox" Church of Christianity and the people who make it up have sadly fallen into the latter category.

Look at this quote:

"But Plugged In, a publication of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, gave the game a "thumbs-up." The reviewer called it "the kind of game that Mom and Dad can actually play with Junior -- and use to raise some interesting questions along the way."

This was used to describe the new "CONVERT OR DIE" Video Game"Left Behind." The game is based on the 60 million copy-selling "Left Behind" series by Tim Lahay.

The object of the game is to convert people, post-apocalypse, to Christianity or kill them. The full description can be found in the link.

"Now son, if you are going to kill an infidel who refuses to convert, I would suggest using and Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher over an M-16 rifle. Not only do they die, but there is nothing left of their Satanic asses.

So for every person who tries to spread brotherhood, reconciliation, religious-freedom, secular humanism that can live in harmony with faith, and peace, there are 1,000 more working the other side and 1 million more per 1,000 who belive and follow them. Many of them in the name of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Communism and other assorted isms. If people could only look within as much as they look out.