The article said, "Redding's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting."

The comparison of one's gender and ethnicity to one's religion is an impossible exercise. There is no doctrine one must accept to be, as Rev. Redding puts it, "an American of African descent and a woman." We do not subscribe to certain belief systems that make us men or women or black or white. Gender and ethnicity are spiritually neutral. No one chooses their own gender or ethnicity but everyone makes a conscious decision to embrace their religion based upon which creed addresses each individual's spiritual and emotional needs. It is possible for an individual to become a Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist but no one can make a conscious decision to become black or white.

From a doctrinal point of view Rev. Redding is on unstable spiritual ground. Christians believe Jesus came into this world being both fully human and fully God. Muslims believe Jesus was a human prophet but they do not believe he was divine. The point here is not who is correct but whether or not an individual can reasonably embrace two opposite beliefs. One cannot and to try to walk that line is intellectually and spiritually impossible. It's like telling someone you believe in round squares or that you believe the sun is both a star and a planet.

Rev. Redding chooses to ignore these contradictions and said, "At the most basic level I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."

Well, fair enough. Rev. Redding can call herself anything she likes but that doesn't eliminate the inconsistencies.

Rev. Redding said, "We Christians, in struggling to express the beauty and dignity of Jesus and the pattern of life he offers, describe him as the 'only begotten son of God.' That's how wonderful he is to us. But that is not literal."

Actually, Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Son of God. It is literal. That Rev. Redding has her doubts only means that she fits comfortably in today's Episcopal Church, which encourages members to visit the Christian cafeteria and wander down the line choosing only the items they like and leaving those they find objectionable behind.

Hisham Farajallah, president of the Islamic Center of Washington, offers a more reasonable view regarding Rev. Redding's situation. With respect to being both Muslim and Christian, he said, "I don't know how that works."

Most anyone would be confused about the degree of spiritual elasticity that is being preached by Rev. Redding and the majority of her church.

The June 22 edition of The Columbian, a Washington state newspaper, offered the views of a number of other experts who questioned the idea that religious doctrines can be stretched and shaped like spiritual silly putty.

Mahmoud Ayoub, professor of Islamic studies and comparative religion at Temple University said, "The theological beliefs are irreconcilable. For Muslims to say Jesus is God would be blasphemy."

Frank Spina, an Episcopal priest and professor of Old Testament and biblical theology at Seattle Pacific University said, "I just do not think this sort of thing works. I think you have to give up what is essential to Christianity to make the moves she has done. The essence of Christianity is not that Jesus was a great rabbi or even a great prophet but that he is the very incarnation of the God that created the world. ...Christianity stands or falls on who Jesus is."

As the Episcopal Church lurches farther away from its own canon, Father Spina clearly resides in an ever shrinking corner of his church.

However, we can find some wisdom here, if we approach it in an honest manner. Doug Thorpe, who served on a faith formation committee with Rev. Redding, said he believes she is "by her very presence, a bridge person."

Heaven knows, more bridges are needed in the world between religions, between nations and between cultures. But those bridges must be based upon our willingness to extend tolerance and respect to those with whom we differ, not by pretending those differences do not exist. Solid bridges that will stand over time are not constructed by denying differences. Respect and understanding do not flourish when we ignore our dissimilarities, they flourish when we recognize and accept them.

---Joseph Bell has hosted a radio talk show and is a former editorial writer/columnist for several Connecticut newspapers. A former liberal Democrat, Bell has not been on the conservative side of the aisle for very long. He voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992. Abandoning the convictions that he had held and defended through adolescence and into adulthood was not easy. Sincere soul-searching and a commitment to distinguish fact from fiction compelled him to accept that liberal ideology was bankrupt.