To answer Basu's April 19 letter, I was not voicing "complaints" but opening a rational debate about the nature of the Creator of this world. Basu assures us that "The Supreme Creator has created a terrible world, our earth, for specific purposes."
As Basu seems to have such incredible insight into the Creator ("The Creator has no intention of creating heaven on this earth ..."), can he explain, for example, the Age of the Dinosaurs, during which for 185 million years there was unrelenting internecine reptilian bastardry rampant on this earth? What "specific purposes" are we supposed to see in this? To punish herbivorous dinosaurs for their sins? To provide material for future Steven Spielberg movies?
Basu's reply also ignored the point made in my April 15 letter ("Pondering a flawed creation") about all life existing by killing other life. This is very surprising in view of the well-known concern for animals by adherents of the Hindu spiritual realm. As writer Mark Twain said, "In India, all life is sacred, except human life."
Furthermore, my observations are not to be dismissed as "atheism." I think it far more plausible that this flawed creation is the product of a flawed creator, as the Gnostics believe. The first step in figuring out why we are here and what to do about it is to clear the rubbish out of the attic and think for ourselves — not follow set-in-stone beliefs, whether Christian or Hindu, that do not make sense.
And as people supposedly "raised according to Judaistic principles," I and millions of others accept the New Testament, are not awaiting the Messiah, and do eat pork. It is just high-flown baloney we are allergic to.
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.