Yesterday, I went out to breakfast with my friend and mother-in-law, Pat. I was talking to her about the Prince of Piffle article, and she gave me some insight. She explained that many non-religious people are really frightened by what has been going on in the world, with the current forms of religious oppression. (I can think of the Catholic church sex abuse scandal, the violent response by Muslims over cartoon depictions of Mohammed, and the fundamentalist push to make homosexuality punishable by death sentence in Africa). She also shared with me that Christopher Hitchens was a good friend of Salman Rushdie's, and must have been greatly influenced by that. When I put myself in his position. I can completely empathize with his point of view. And I realize that I did something that psychological rearch shows people do all the time: misinterpret fear as anger. Anger is a way to protect oneself from threats to self. Knowing more about Hitchens, whose friend was almost assasinated at least twice, I understand his frothing better.
Thank you, Pat.
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