Comparative Religion Seminary

Religious strife has caused more misery in the world than almost any other human activity. Those with little knowledge of their own religion and even less of other religions portray everyone outside their narrow group as bloodthirsty heathen -- Christians and Jews view Islam as a religion of fanatical suicide bombers, Muslims portray Jews as cannabalistic controllers of the West and Christians as their willing lackeys, and the poor Buddhists get picked on by everyone.

Enter the comparative religion seminary. Catholic priests, Protestant preachers, Jewish Rabbis, Islamic Imans, Buddhist monks, Hindu priests, and representatives of other religions all under one roof. Those searching for spiritual fulfillment would take a four year undergraduate course studying the beliefs and rituals of all religions in the seminary and receive a bachelor degree in comparative religion. Only then would one be allowed to pursue a master's degree and specialize in a particular religion, with an oral final defending that faith against questions from the representatives of other faiths.

Once a candidate has earned a master's degree and successfully defended against other faiths, he or she could then apply to become a priest (or the equivalent) in the religion of his or her choice. The resulting priest/preacher/iman/rabbi/monk would be well-versed in other religions, and hopefully more tolerant of the beliefs of others -- after all, if a die-hard Pentecostal preacher has a Buddhist friend, it's harder for him to condemn the latter to the fiery pits of hell in the afterlife.