“God bless you,” said a stranger, after I unleashed an ungodly sneeze in the Palmer House last weekend. This neighborly invocation had unusual overtones. We were waiting for the Parliament of the World’s Religions to kick off with a procession that would take up three aisles of the crowded ballroom. When it finally began, it was a little disappointing. Unlike a Shriner’s parade, the pacing was way off and the costumes lacked panache. During frequent delays, rubbernecking shutterbugs kept looking to the back of the hall. They seemed to be searching for the best hats. Exotic headgear– turbans were in great evidence– always inspired a rash of flashes. Some photographers stood on chairs to get better shots.
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One contingent–probably one of several pagan crews–looked like a tribe of lost souls from a cruise-ship costume party. One slickster wore a tux. One woman wore a silky white cocktail dress. Another wore a gaudy gilt serpent affixed to her towering chapeau. A cross-eyed elderly woman in a faux-medieval gown brought up the rear twirling a noisemaker.
“Sikhism is the youngest of the world religions,” stated a yellow brochure noting that it’s “barely 500 years old.” Endorsements from Pearl Buck and Arnold Toynbee were printed on the back. The Sikhs gave away bright yellow plastic bags proclaiming “There Is One God, We Are All One” for visitors to carry around.
A table of Muslim literature included a June 1955 reprint from Reader’s Digest titled “Islam: The Misunderstood Religion” by James Michener. A pamphlet published more recently by the Saudi Arabian embassy answered questions like “Why does Islam often seem strange?” A booklet for journalists, printed by the American Muslim Council, pointed out that the phrase “God is great” is “not the Muslim ‘war cry,’” and the Quran–not “Koran”– is “not the Muslim ‘Bible,’” and “Allah is not ‘the Muslim God.’”
For souvenirs you could order Zen Buddhist T-shirts, coffee mugs, and baseball caps.
