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On religious freedom
Part of a speech by California Senator Albert S. Rodda, given 11 May 1976. You can also read a full transcript of the speech.
[emphasis mine] I am reminded of a letter I received from a cousin who commented about the conflict which my appointment of a Buddhist to be Senate Chaplain [Rev. Sholo Masunaga in 1975] brought into being. She said that I should keep up the good work. Our grandfather, Richard Rodda, who was a Methodist minister, she observed would be proud of my action.
She further commented that she "... asked Grandfather, when she was a young person, why there were so many religions and how one could know which one to select?" Grandfather answered, "My dear, there are many roads to San Francisco. Some are smooth, some are narrow, some are long, some are short, some are rough and hard to travel, but remember one thing and that is that they all eventually lead to San Francisco. The one you choose is, of course, the one you will prefer to travel, but if you truly want to reach San Francisco anyone of them will lead you there in time."
My cousin commented that she had thought of the observation many times as she worked with people of many different faiths and it was her opinion that what they all truly wanted was to reach San Francisco. She further observed that a niece of hers had a daughter, June, who was a fully ordained Buddhist minister, and she said, "I certainly do not consider her an atheist. Some of her teachings make very good sense to me, a bit more than the teachings of some of those who belong to other churches." She concluded: "The good ones will travel the road and they will arrive. The rest will fall by the wayside, whatever road they travel."
The thought with which I wish to end these comments is that one may disagree with the view that there are many roads to San Francisco and one may believe that there is really only one road. The critical issue, however, is, it seems to me, that the state must not determine the route and direct all citizens along that path. Our founding fathers believed this; they reasoned that it should be a matter of individual conscience; so they introduced the concept of religious freedom into the Constitution.
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~FaR~
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