Religious Relativism

I find the idea of a particular religion explaining the ideas of a different religion in an objective fashion quite bizarre. 'I'm a muslim and Gabriel spoke to Mohammed, and Mohammed said that Jesus was a man who was a prophet, but Southern Baptists think that Jesus was an incarnation of God, but he wasn't, but anyway, my cousin Mary was down the Rec with Willy Finn doing her dirty business behind the greenkeeper's hut, and anyway...' It is all so Vicky Pollard.
Listen to me, Beloved, the story of the Elephant's child is just that, a story. The Bible is a bit more than that, it is a legend. There was probably some very dark skinned chap called Jesus, or someone similar, who went around spouting prophecies and claimimg to be descended from King David of the Jews, and he probably set quite a good example - although that might have been embroidered a bit - and he certainly inspired a group of people who didn't fancy heavy work to set themselves up as authorities on the supernatural. (For anybody with a brain who might be reading this, stop now and consider the implications of 'supernatural')
One of my colleagues quoted his vicar today. A very profound thought - 'We are all climbing the same mountain, but we get to the summit by different routes'. I take it he/she/it (strike out as appropriate) meant that 'we' are all deists and that our creeds are all just textual interpretations. Well, I for one am not a deist; but that is not really interesting. What is interesting is that not all religious people are so postmodern. Lots of them think that the text is literally true. The Earth was created in six days. Homosexuals must be stoned to death. Women must be modest -but men need not bother. Faith is necessary to salvation, good works are incidental. I could go on, but, to be frank, I am bored. If you don't see the incongruity by now you are either mentally defective or a paid up member of the Richard Rorty fan club.