By the way, Joe—heard recently in the news:   There is some controversy among Muslims regarding the performance of the five-times-daily call to prayer. Some want to equip the minarets with loudspeakers and broadcast the call from tape or other recording. Others object to this and want to continue having the call done by live "muezzins." But with the proviso that the muezzins take singing lessons.

The reason? Within recent years, too many muezzins have been ear-jarringly off-pitch, inspiring many devout Muslims to crawl under their prayer rugs rather than kneel on them!

So—the muezzins had better shape up or they'll be replaced with modern technology.

And would you believe it!?? Not all Muslims are in agreement about this!

What a shock!!

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My basic beef:

Consider the number of religions in the world, and the number of different sects and denominations within each of those religious groups—and the different tenets and beliefs, often within a specific sect or denomination.

For example, among Lutherans, there are several different synods that do no agree with each other. Some ELCA churches will give Holy Communion to anyone who comes up to the altar during the service, whereas Missouri Synod Lutheran churches will give communion only to those who are specifically identified as Lutheran. But—this does not hold true for all ELCA or Missouri Synod Lutheran churches!

Methodist, Presbyterians, Baptists (the Baptist church that Jimmy Carter attended withdrew from the Southern Baptist Leadership Conference because of differences in beliefs and practices), Rastafarians, Buddhists, Druids, and all other bodies of religious belief differ from eash other. And within themselves. (Can you say "schism?").

"Religion" is not monolithic.

So it puts me to shriek and to stamp on my hat when some nincompoop insists that "religion" does this, that, or something else. It demonstrates a pompous amd simplistic worship of the God of Abysmal Ignorance, generally fueled by prejudice.

(Which, in itself, is a mark of abysmal ignorance.)

Don Firth