You see, as bad as things get, I have hope in this world. Last week we went to the annual St. Martin's Fall Festival at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church. We've been going for years...and here's the thing...no one even thinks about the fact that we are Protestants. We go, we fellowship, we have fun. And we take that for granted.
The only reason I even thought about Protestantism during the event is because my European History classes are currently studying the religious conflicts of the 16th Century. We've been examining terrible atrocities like the The Thirty Years War, The French Wars of Religion, Bloody Mary's reign in England, etc... All these conflicts involved Catholics and Protestants killing each other supposedly over religious affiliation.
For centuries, Catholics and Protestants could not live together peacefully. But today, most of us do not give much thought to whether someone is Catholic or Protestant. Most of us have friends, family or co-workers who are Catholic or Protestant and we don't think twice about it. Even when we have theological disagreements we don't come close to thinking we're going to shun or commit acts of violence against those who hold opposing viewpoints in religious matters.
Unfortunately, it took centuries and millions (yes, millions) killed to get this point. But the fact that we can live together as Protestants and Catholics gives me hope that someday we can live peacefully with Muslims. I have Muslim students who are fantastic people. I have known Muslims who are peace-loving, law-abiding folks who are as disgusted by the violence of extremism as any Christian.
I have faith that someday, humanity will find ways to co-exist and will look back on these days with wonder and amazement like I look back at the days of Protestant/Catholic violence.
