To the Editor:
Recently we read in this paper that Catholics have a better chance of going to heaven because they have seven sacraments and other denominations do not. It was also possible to draw the inference that God loves Catholics more than other denominations, though maybe the writer (Father Ken Doyle) did not intend to say that. (I certainly hope not!)
In any case, is this a Christian idea? Jesus definitely had something to say about it. His parable in Luke 18:9 tells of the two men in the temple, the one giving thanks that he was not like other men, such as the man behind him, and then enumerating his own virtues.
Where does this leave people in other traditions? What became of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Or “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Or “Love one another as I have loved you.”
Triumphalism still thrives.
Virginia Norton
Davenport
