The Tough Questions
Sandy Perry wrote me on Aug. 15, 2008:
Today's paper had an article about the decision of Hope Presybterian to host a tribute to Isaac Hayes. Christians were opposed to the idea of hosting a tribute to a prominent, active Scientologist. One of my coworkers mentioned that all religions are true, so what's the big deal?
I responded, "That’s not logically possible."
"What do you mean?"
"Doctrines that teach contradictory ideas can't all be true. It's not possible."
"I don't understand."
"Take Jesus. Christians believe he was God. Jews think he was a nut and a blasphemer. Muslims believe he was a prophet, but not God’s son. They can't all be right. He's either God or he's not."
"Well, he was a great moral teacher regardless."
"Sorry, that won't work either."
"Why not?"
"Jesus claimed to be God. If he's not, that's a lie. You can't be a great moral teacher and lie."
The response? A blank stare and a change of subject.