Tabash on Religion, Heaven’s Gate Cult

Re “Salvation by UFO? Or Maybe You Prefer Talking Snakes,” Commentary, April 4:

Edward Tabash makes numerous false statements, but when he claims that Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15, says that “Jews are displeasing to God,” he is guilty of an incredibly sophomoric reading of the Bible. Paul refers only to those Jews who persecuted and rejected Jesus, and supported his crucifixion by the Roman authorities.

Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the Bible recognizes that the entire book is the record of God’s chosen people, the Jews, and of his plan for the salvation of all mankind, including Jews. God is displeased by anyone who disobeys his commandments, whether Jew or Gentile. To connect cults like Heaven’s Gate and historical Christianity is egregiously unfair and--need I say it again?--simply foolish.

Mr. Tabash, look at the evidence for the resurrection and stop making unsubstantiated misrepresentations of believers and Christian doctrine simply to justify your own hatred of religion.

WILLIAM LOMAX

Woodland Hills

* Albert Camus, an existential French novelist, once wrote, “I fail to see the world as having any superior meaning . . . but I know it has meaning because man insists upon it having a meaning. Without man, there can be no meaning.” And that is precisely what this episode by the Heaven’s Gate sect has evoked: A dialogue on our search for meaning in a world that without an ordering principle would leave us hopeless, in despair and in a more primitive state of mind.

I agree with Tabash’s thesis that traditional, normative or New Age standards are beside the point. If you agree that man has a fundamental need to find meaning in his world, then the real issue is to never stop trying to understand human nature and its deep spiritual yearnings. How to do this without alienating the community at large and without using categorical imperatives that paralyze rather than facilitate insight is what part of the search is all about.

SAMUEL J. HASSON

Glendale

* Tabash is to be applauded for explicating so clearly and succinctly the case against not only religion, but mysticism in general. It is indeed rare to see in print such an open attack on irrationality.

It is extremely important, however, to not only understand what is wrong with mysticism, but to discover the principles and ideas that make a rational life possible. To this end I would like to recommend to your readers “The Voice of Reason,” a book of essays by Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff.

STEPHEN SPEICHER

Thousand Oaks