Grant Piper's March 21 letter, "Honorable human destination," was another very well-reasoned response to my March 14 letter on the subject of bullying and religion ("Giving compassion a chance"). By contrast, my letter elicited a hostile response from Jennifer Kim on March 17 ("Odd condemnation of religion").
I think that, in the future, I'll stick to writing about sports or stamp collecting. Living here in a remote corner of Hokkaido, I write sometimes just to pass the time of day, or to engage in a "conversation" with the editors at The Japan Times.
It is never my intention to personally offend anyone, although I suppose I can be tactless at times and I am getting long in the tooth, nearly 62. At the end of the day, I have a feeling that God, if there is a God, must find it all very amusing, while watching or listening in on his creation!
My argument has never been with God — just the mess we've made of things on Earth with our religious wars, nuclear weapons, failure to address environmental issues, the collapse of life in the oceans and the lack of legroom when flying economy class. My wife thinks I need to find more hobbies. I think she's right.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.