Since the Age of Enlightenment leading social scientists have proposed that symbolic rituals, sacred practices and theological treatises are products of the past. However, one must only look at a news headline to realize that the modern world is as religious as it ever was.

When the relationship between the religious and the secular is such as involves the complete dominance of one over the other, then it results in the curtailment of both religious and political freedoms.

There is one day each year when a civil conversation between our countries and religions could take place: Oct. 29, a day commemorating the founder of the Persian Empire.

It is said that God sent different men of wisdom to earth. These men of God came only to bring truth to man. They did not come to establish religions. That was man's work, not God's.

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses. So began two stories that have shaped the West since the 16th century. But what happens if we link the two?

The end of the 19th century and onward was a significant period in the rise of spiritualism and mediums, general interest in esoteric matters, and the public emergence of occult movements.

At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia. Even those who claim to be devout or conservative often know little about the history of their faith traditions.