Mark Small

In services I attended mid- to late 1970s as I researched 4 a novel, some preachers demeaned baptism other than by complete immersion as “only sprinkling” & derided Roman Catholicism “worships of idols,” i.e. statutes. 8/20

We form a committee of ministers & priests to draft a prayer to supreme deity, whose only begotten son ... We would have problems because the “only begotten son” thing is Christian: not everyone is a Christian. 9/20

We would have to accommodate members of the Hebrew faith. New Testament says Jesus was a Jew. Both religions are based on covenant w/Abraham. There still would be opposition from a lot of Christians & members of Hebrew faith. 10/20

Also, if we look at religions based on Abraham, et al, must include members of the Islamic faith. If one does not believe me, read the holy book of Islam. I have. I also have studied other religions. 11/20

For some weird reason, I think so-called religious people around dt would go into seizures were they to include, or be allowed to include, reference to Islam’s supreme deity in their prayer. 12/20

Well, nuts. We seem to hit some barriers. Of course, in Indiana in recent years, many people have settled into our communities. Many are Hindus. Other Asians who have settled here are Buddhists. 13/20

We have home-grown and imported Wiccans, of a wide variety of interpretations of the cosmos. 14/20

Hypothetical: we expand committee 2 include everyone Ive listed. We might have a prayer to an amorphous, vague deity to whom children, in unison, would say, at start of each day: “Yay-rah god! Let’s have a good day!” 15/20