Basil Manly IV, 33°
2 Chanticleer Drive, Greenville, South Carolina 29605-3106
Moderates of every faith come closer to the
nature of divine principle than those who see themselves as
defenders by acts of inhuman behavior of their particular brand
of religion.
Almost all of us claim the faith tradition of
the family into which we were born and try to follow its teachings.
Whatever their religious affiliation, most would identify the
Supreme Being they worship as one of love, grace, mercy, and
forgiveness.
But now, almost daily, terrible headlines in newspapers
record fanatic acts by religionists, really terrorists, of the
different faiths. They conceive of their deity as vindictive,
cruel, harsh, and ruthless. This phenomenon is not limited to
any one religion. Each has its proponents of evil. In their
effort to be zealous, they have perverted religious tenets to
those of their own makings. Each is a terrorist in his own way.
If you do not believe as they do, you must be eliminated.
Often, a religion sees itself as the only true
way to worship God, but most adherents are at least tolerant
of the views of others who believe differently. Christians and
Muslims have each called the other "infidels" repeatedly
in the past, and fanatics continue to stoke the fires of hatred
with venom-filled accusations and age-old complaints.
If we could begin to consider each other as children
of the one Creator and stress the similarities in the tenets
of our faiths, our whole world would be a better, more peaceful
place. I am a Christian, Baptist by denomination, but I can
accept those of other faiths as children of God, too. It is
my belief that our Creator will be praised when we think of
Him as the God of love and of other humans as brothers in the
kingdom of God. The moderates of every faith come closer to
the nature of divine principle than those who see themselves
as defenders by acts of inhuman behavior of their particular
brand of religion. More wars have been fought in the name of
religion than for any other reason. War should be made on terrorists
and fanatics, not on religions.
May we all pray for toleration, may brotherly
love prevail, and may every moral and social virtue cement us
as children of the one Creator.
Basil Manly, IV
is a medical doctor and the Personal Representative of the S.G.I.G.
in Greenville, S.C.
