Books: Freemason Speaks Out For Peace In "One Mountain, Many Paths"

Is religious intolerance an American value? American Freemason and author Dr. Patrick Swift says "No!" "One Mountain, Many Paths: An American Freemason Speaks Out For Peace" contains uplifting quotes from the sacred texts of all the great religious traditions including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

A psychologist and caregiver to 9/11 victims, Dr. Patrick Swift speaks out against religious intolerance in One Mountain, Many Paths. "I feel compelled to speak out as a Freemason against religious intolerance because it threatens to tear America and our world apart," says Swift. "Faith in God and religious tolerance are basic American values within our government and our Constitution. Founding Fathers like George Washington, Ben Franklin, and John Hancock understood the importance of this as Freemasons."

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Dr. Patrick Swift.

Holding a firm belief that our likenesses vastly outnumber our differences, Dr. Swift compiled One Mountain, Many Paths: An American Freemason Speaks Out For Peace in the wake of 9/11. Dr. Swift's book contains uplifting quotes from the sacred texts of all the great religious traditions including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, organized into chapters such as "Love One Another" and "Love Your Enemy."

In celebration of Independence Day and freedom of religion in America, Double Eagle Press will be making the eBook version of One Mountain, Many Paths available to the public for free download throughout July Fourth weekend (7/4/08 to 7/6/08) by visiting One Mountain, Many Paths and downloading the eBook in PDF format. The hardcover and paperback editions placed in the 2007 USA Best Book Awards (category winner) and the 2008 Nautilus Book Awards (silver medal finalist).

According to Reverend Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance, "Dr. Swift thoughtfully and beautifully shares with us a collection of some of the wise words from diverse spiritual traditions that can do for us what they did for him - evoke an appreciation for diversity, provide counsel that creates a longing for unity, instill peace within us personally, and inspire us to work for peace globally."

According to Reverend William Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, "Dr. Swift's work manages to show not only that there is wisdom in all the world's great faith traditions, but also the remarkable similarity of religious message. In this era when we are told that our differences should divide us, Dr. Swift's work shows so clearly that our differences can be blessings."

Swift says, "We urgently need charity and respect for one another's faiths in this world, not more bigotry and religious intolerance." According to the most recent data available on hate crimes in the USA, the FBI reports that in 2006 there were 7,722 hate crimes reported in America of which 1,462 were religiously motivated.

"When Christian leaders like Reverend Rod Parsley wage war against Islam from the pulpit, you've got to wonder what they're thinking," says Swift. "Don't they realize that they have a part in inciting conflict and violence, like religious extremists have done from afar?"

Dr. Swift is a practicing Catholic who formerly trained to become a Jesuit priest. "I see Freemasonry as an interfaith fraternity in which I can share a common belief in God with men of other faiths while maintaining my identity as a Catholic. Being able to call a Jew or a Muslim my brother increases my hope for peace in the world," Swift says.

Freemasonry is the oldest and largest international fraternity dedicated to a brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of a supreme being. Although of a religious nature, Freemasonry is not a religion. It urges its members, however, to be faithful and devoted to their own religious beliefs. There are an estimated 1.6 million Freemasons in the United States.

As a clinical psychologist at NYU Medical Center, Dr. Swift has cared for thousands of people from different faiths. "If there is one thing I've learned as a member of a world-class medical center, it's that teamwork, compassion, and mutual respect are critical when it comes to getting our patients through a health crisis, regardless of the patient or treatment team's religious differences," says Swift. "Why should the peace process be any different?"

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