Ecumenical

We used the single word “ecumenical” for this section merely because it is a single word (needed for compact Website buttons) that captures the wider intent of this section. Technically “ecumenical” refers to the search for unity among Christian sects — here we mean the search for unity among all the versions of the Sacred. Many of the existing religions have at one time or another tried to relate to or integrate with one another. Examination of several of the tragic wars and misery resulting from  separations within the differing Sacred camps (Christian vs. Islam; Protestant vs. Catholic, etc.) yields recognition of some periods when there were sincere efforts to heal divisions. Some examples are: (1) the modern Ba’Hai Faith recognizes the prophets of all the major Abrahaminic religions; (2) the recent outreach by the various Abrahaminic religions to respect each others beliefs; (3) the recent efforts to rejoin the Anglican and Catholic churches, or the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics; (4) works that compare the wisdom of ancient Eastern and traditional modern Western religions; (5) works that seek to relate the wisdom emerging from the natural sciences with the wisdom of various religions, etc. [48F/W’13]