I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help smiling at the Pandit in that Bobby Jindal story:

“You pray to Christ, I pray to Rama, he prays to Mohammad,” he said. “We are going the same way. God is one. His name is called a thousand names.”

Hard not to find oneself thinking of the White Knight in Through the Looking-Glass:

“The name of the song is called ‘Haddocks’ Eyes.’”
“Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?” Alice said, trying to feel interested.
“No, you don’t understand,” the Knight said, looking a little vexed. “That’s what the name is called. The name really is ‘The Aged Aged Man.’”
“Then I ought to have said ‘That’s what the song is called’?” Alice corrected herself.
“No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The song is called ‘Ways and Means’: but that’s only what it’s called, you know!” … etc., etc.

It’s not hard for us irreligious types to see the point of something like fundamentalist Islam (or fundamentalist anything, I guess) – a faith that insists it is the only true faith, and regards doubters with hatred, scorn, or pity. It’s much harder to see the point of this mushy it’s-all-the-same-thing-really ecumenism. Why bother to master a lot of complicated rituals, and affirm a lot of complicated doctrines, if some other set of rituals and doctrines is just as good?

In fact, come on: this bloke may call himself a Pandit, but his words betray him. He is actually an Anglican!