By Mark Scheinbaum                

 THANKSGIVING and religious tolerance, We might as well start with the punchline. The conclusion. So that the possible solution for the epidemic of hate and discrimination might be achieved.                  

As we create a particular Day each year to do what we should always do—being thankful for the Lord´s blessings, the scene perhaps 20 years ago was the Feast of Tabernacles, sitting with an Orthodox Lubavitcher Rabbi in the ´´sukkah´´ open to the stars.

The headlines were about the rights of Atheists and prayer in the schools. The newscasts were about Christmas trees and crèches, and the Nativity Scenes in the Town Square. Or perhaps there should be Menorahs to give Jewish people equal representation. Lawsuits. Protests. Demonstrations. Emergency meetings with the Mayor.

The young Rabbi shrugged his shoulders and commented to no one in particular, although it seemed to be directly to ME in particular;

´´OK, so ending a prayer with the name Jesus Christ might not be my thing. Making the sign of the cross is not my preference. This is not my tradition or my teaching. But, you know what? When I see the crimes, the shootings, the drugs, the alcohol, the dysfunctional families, the sadness and lack of direction…well….taking time each day in school to Pray to whomever, and reflect on G-d, in one´s own way, is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. It is good however it is delivered.´´

My own sort of tolerance epiphany was a few years earlier. I was one of those guys when asked to deliver a blessing looked for passages or quotations which were sort of ´´G-d Neutral´´ to not offend anyone of any other religion. My own deepest wishes or my own education was put aside.

In another Panama—the ultra-conservative evangelical town of Panama City, FLORIDA there is a gigantic Air Force Base.  An Air Force Captain filed suit against the local high school because he was Jewish, and his son, a Jewish football player on the school team, had to ´´endure´´ a Protestant minister kneeling and invoking the name of Jesus in a prayer before each game. We will leave the entire question as to whether the Lord favors Real Madrid over Barcelona, or the New York Yankees over the Boston Red Sox for another day.

These are the sensitivity and political correctness issues which instead of breeding understanding, actually dilute faith, dilute respect, dilute religion and dilute tolerance.  Think about it. Heaven forbid you were dying on the battlefield and you were Moslem. The Army chaplain was trained in basic prayers for Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, or whatever. But he was an ordained Roman Catholic priest. As your breath slipped away he reverted to the words and feelings of his Church as he had been taught. He was sad, but he was hopeful, and he was thankful that he was there with you and for you

So the question I did not ask at the outset remains:

How does it in ANY WAY DEMEAN YOU or YOUR religion when someone else, in their deepest sincerity attempts to bless you, or thank you, or intercede on your behalf in the BEST WAY THEY KNOW from the words and sacraments and traditions of THEIR TEACHINGS and THEIR RELIGION?

When I was asked to walk into the Basilica of Don Bosco last year for Dia de Maestros, and the Archbishop looked down and blessed me as an educator and as a human being in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit I was not insulted. I was honored. I did not feel discriminated against.

There are people who today want you dead because of what you believe and how you pray. In response there people who seek to exclude with a broad brush those millions of faithful adherents to other religions who reject radical interpretations of hate and murder. But having a neighbor who prays five times daily, or does not eat pork, or who observes Lent, or who believes in reincarnation does not ruin my day. Nor do I stay awake at night trying to change their beliefs.

I am thankful for those who understand tolerance. I am thankful that within myself, the Almighty and yes, perhaps Jesus as well, gave me the intellectual ability to understand that if an indigenous Shaman, or Pope Francis—each in their own way—blessed me, or my family, or my community, I would not be freaked out because the prayer was not in Hebrew.

Oh…and speaking of thanksgiving. Thanks for your time!