Religion in general

The following is extracted from a novel on which I am working. In it, Jack, at this point, a Protestant ministerial student, is exploring his boundaries.

He looked forward to the opportunity to have a pulpit, no matter how small, where he could preach, just as he had done in the seminary chapel, what ministers, a generation ago, called the social gospel. His studies absorbed his energy. He poured himself into philosophy, and continued taking language electives. He started to visit the local synagogue, to hear the sounds of the biblical Hebrew in which he was beginning to develop some literary expertise. The rabbi there, a much older man, took an interest in him, and asked Jack why he was attending.
"To tell you the truth, Rabbi, I'm not sure myself. I know that I have really learned to love the Hebrew language. As I have learned more, it has given me insights into the Bible. I first wanted to develop an appreciation for the language not only via the eye, but also via the ear. But at this point, I am back here on a regular basis because I am stimulated by your sermons. It seems to me that you are far closer to my thinking about the role of religion in people's lives than the old fogie professors at the seminary, and they are younger than you are."
The rabbi replied, "They, just like the professors at my own seminary, don't live in the real world. They like hiding behind their academic titles, and their publication of articles that are read only by other academicians. I could hardly wait to graduate and get out from the seminary walls. Still, they serve a purpose. They provide you with the research tools and the text materials that are available to you to motivate people. The average person doesn't give a damn about what's going on in the world, unless it affects his paycheck or his peace of mind. The only way we can move people is to use ancient texts that scare the hell out of them."
Jack pondered this for a moment. "Then you see the texts as tools. They are not an end in themselves. Do you take them literally? What do they mean to you?" "To me, the texts that are sacred to each religion are not books of history or science. They are the poetry of faith. They are neither right nor wrong, but are the high level aspirations of the great spiritual leaders of each generation, in each culture, round the world. There is as much good in the Koran as there is in the Vedas, or the Buddhist writings, or the Bible of the western world. People can only be taught in their own vocabulary. To you, Jesus becomes the paradigm of faith. To me, it is the Hebrew prophets. To my Moslem friends it is Mohammed. It really doesn't matter who said it or how. In my thinking, all that counts is whether it motivates human beings to be kind, loving, and willing to work for the cause of peace in the world.”