Religions Always Collide

Ritual in Action

The boy in the photo knows the rule: lick your finger and turn the page.  He's seen others abide by it and he emulates them, and he creates for us a beautiful image of how religions fail. The rule, initially an advancement of safety or efficacy, is eventually misunderstood or outdated and then comes to exist for its own sake, divorced from the context of its creation.

If then a religion is a powerful organization of these rules collectively attributed to an almighty and all knowing God, the religion--to itself--can never be in error and therefore can never willingly change.  In this sense religion has a keel, but no rudder. 

This is why religions always collide.