I hope that it is not lost on Pope Benedict during his visit to the US, that we have some serious problems. And, that one of our major problems is that of intolerance. So a few words from him on the subject might prove to be healing for a divided nation, where we rank and score people based on their level of belief in and adherence to Christianity. And for the most part, there is a tendency to devalue or ignore those from other faith traditions and who are different.

Yes we are in need of a serious and strong universal message and The Vicar of Christ on planet earth is the best one to do it if he wants to step up to the task. We all have the light of Christ within us regardless of our faith, ethnicity, class or gender. It is sad to say that these are the things this society has taught us to see first and not the inherent goodness and humanity that is within each of us. I call it "The Christ Within. " Holy Father, it's a simple message, but a much needed one for a very divided nation.

So my question for the day is what do you think Pope Benedict can do or say to help heal and stem the growing tide of intolerance in America? Let me hear from you.


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Rev. Jay Speights has an MA in public policy and is an interfaith minister and the main U.N. representative for The New Seminary in New York. You can learn more about his work at The New Seminary website or at http://jayspeights.blogspot.com/ . His email address is {email jayspeights@newseminary.org}jayspeights@newseminary.org{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Jay Speights.