What could we do, living in a city so liberal as Pasadena (LA County, CA), the jewel of the Other Valley, the "Varanasi of the West"? (Varanasi or Benares is the most spiritual city in India).

We did a spiritual pub crawl by visiting a Buddhist center (Mindfulness Meditation Center � Covina � Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara), a semi-Hindu temple (Self-Realization Fellowship, Glendale), and an Episcopalian church, the best one in the country:�All Saints Church, Pasadena (allsaints-pas.org).

Radical inclusion at All Saints: Whoever one is, that person is welcome. A female dressed as a priest was breaking bread and distributing blood (gluten wafers and wine with everyone's saliva mixed in) in a European cannibalism ritual where they eat their godThe Buddhist monastery had not official event, just visitors as many Sri Lankans in the U.S. are or have family members that have become Christians, after the British and Portuguese brought the religion to the formerly occupied colonySRF had an inclusive service, singing Christmas carols, eating cookies, singing, performing, and reading from Paramahansa Yogananda's Jesus' Second Coming,�with a decidedly Indian slant to the interpretation of Issa (Jesus) as a traveler to ancient India, where he was exposed to Tibetan Buddhism, the Brahminical Vedic religion (before Hinduism had been systematized into a "religion" by Sri Shankara), and the ways of the East

We come more out of family tradition than faith.

This third place with its 10:30 pm service was very inclusive -- reading from the Quran (Koran, Islam's holy book), giving a nod to the Jews, and talking about this one guy whose birthday it was. There was singing and lesbians officiants in different colors, as if the place were Unitarian Universalists, which Pasadena has two such places of worship (Throop and Neighborhood Church).

Religion is better when it includes women.

One hardly sees so many liberals gathered in one place, talking about the big Rose Parade and football game next week, protests against Israel and for Palestine, with a great deal of respect for non-Zionist Jews, massive compassion for all the suffering of the world, not least the tiny minority of Christians in Bethlehem, where Christmas has been cancelled by Jewish Nationalist war games and actual slaughter.

To meditate is the way to the divine.

The birthday guy was apparently a Palestinian living in the West Back 2,000 years ago, angering the Temple priests and Roman officials. The whole thing left us believing, There's no way Jesus (Issa) was real. They've made him up to be all things to everyone from an obscure figure in the ancient Near East. We think there was a historical figure but nothing like this fantasy Nordic son of Zeus the churches have going. Just ask Bible scholars like Bart Ehrman and Reza Aslan.

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