h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Doctor -- It is interesting to me that you ask Christians and atheists for feedback, but make no invitation to those of any other religious or secular tradition. Is it an either-or proposition in your view? And your comments elsewhere in your journal about "weird" eastern religions could be construed as less than tolerant -- certainly less than knowledgable. Surprising for a student of Near-Eastern liguistics, I'd say. I personally know Buddhists who think ritual cannibalism is pretty bizarre -- a perspective thing, I suppose. "One man's eucharist is another man's taboo." Or as Heinlein wrote, "One man's religion is another man's belly laugh" (Time Enough For Love/The Notebooks of Lazarus Long). Just remember you are not the only one giggling!

Blessed Be!

There are several reasons that I only asked for Christians and atheists, and none of them have to do with an either-or proposition. First, as a Christian, I am simply curious what compelled other Christians to become Christians. Second, I am planning to put together a defense of Christianity on my user page (eventually), and so I thought I would see if other Christians might help bolster my arguments. Third, I have always been concerned with the emotionalism and lack of reason among some Christians, and I thought I might try to challenge some of them into really thinking about their faith.

In my travels through the Guide, I have come across (and argued with) many an atheist, but I have yet to find a decent defense of atheism. It seems as though no one can really come up with a good reason behind atheism. They always say that Christianity is bunk or religion is just superstition -- which, I hope you'll agree, is not a reason for disbelieving in the very concept of God. Furthermore, I again thought that I would be able to bolster my defense of Christianity if I knew what the extreme other side was thinking.

That's why I invited Christians and atheists. As for not inviting other religions, it simply didn't occur to me. I'm not qualified to argue against every religious persuasion that comes my way. Furthermore, to invite other religions just wouldn't be relevant. I'm not sure it would further my defense of Christianity, and it often would just degrade into the typical quoting-your-holy-book-and-shouting-louder-than-your-opponent conversation that people of different religions so often have.

Don't get me wrong, though -- I'm certainly not opposed to listening to other religions (so long as they are not opposed to listening to me). Anyone who wants to pour out their personal religious views on my page is more than welcome, as long as they maintain respect toward everyone else. They just shouldn't be surprised if I start asking them tough questions, and they shouldn't expect me to make a custom invitation on my page for every single religion just so that everyone can be included and feel warm and fuzzy inside.

As for being less than tolerant, I couldn't ask for a better compliment. I hope that someone puts me out of my misery if I ever start becoming "tolerant" (according to the modern definition of tolerance). My point about the weird Eastern religions was simply that everyone seems to spend all their time screaming against Christians while there are so many other religions out there that have much less "scientific" beliefs. If I'm not mistaken, Hindus believe in an eternal, static, infinite universe -- which is something that we know is scientifically false. You don't hear any arguments against Hindus, though, because that simply wouldn't be proper.

My point is this: Christians are fair game in the realm of scientific arguments and insults, but no one seems to spend time examining other religions with nearly so much scrutiny. I wasn't necessarily singling out Eastern religions. I could just have easily have pointed out New Ageism or Discordianism.

As for the Eucharist, it is not ritual cannibalism. It is an extremely complex symbol for many things, but I'll only delve into that realm if you want me to. My journal entry wasn't referring to bizarre or strange pratices -- just the "unscientific" ones.