Tom Cruise is fair game
Another letter of mine bites the editorial dustbin over at The Sydney Morning Herald. In an opinion piece, Miranda Devine argued that Tom Cruise was being treated unfairly because of his loop-the-loop religious beliefs. Anyway, here's what I sent:
Dear editor,
Tom Cruise is no more weird or worthy of attention than any other Hollywood denizen. Despite his treatment of our Nic, he may even turn out to be a nice guy. But to claim that he is not a fair target because he happens to be religious is too much (‘Mugged in print by bigots in righteous masks’, SMH Jan 31).
Any religion—especially nutty ones like Scientology—should be fair game for close scrutiny and even satire. I believe that a man rose from the dead, and one of my great delights in life is when people try to prove that this belief is stupid. If the attempt fails, I've won a convert. If it succeeds, I can go looking for truth elsewhere. Working to debunk religions helps everyone—debunkers and the debunked.
Yours sincerely,
The Rev Gordon Cheng