But people can still die of starvation or rot in unemployment or be massacred by angry soldiers barely minutes from safety while we watch, powerless. Daily we find ourselves in wonderful multi-ethnic situations unthought of even a decade ago. But still racial conflicts cripple or threaten to destroy at least half the nations and cities of the world. Religion has its good and bad days. All over the world, peasants and presidents alike seek for God unselfconsciously, independently, needing the simple support that faith can bring.
People pray who have no obvious religion.
Unlikely people are unashamed of holy faith. But at the same time, there is a kind of dark, negative religion abroad that seems to thrive on the very hatred and division which prophets died to prevent. Fantasy will not get you to the narrow gate. You have that have in common with all others. Whether it is the reality of disease, or poverty, or wealth, or hatred, or personal need, the confrontation with reality forces you to seek God, to seek prayer, to seek hope, and to affirm the value of every single human being.