An array of letters from my mailbox cleanup

By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Content Agency on Mar 9, 2017

Thank you, dear C, for your ... compliment? Thank you also for being such a fine example of your point that, "We should respect others' beliefs if we want them to respect ours." I will reread my column if you reread your response. -- Rabbi Marc Gellman, Ph.D., Jerk.

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What kind of family reads my column? Good question ...

"Thank you for your thoughtful column on tattooing. I appreciate the 1 Corinthians text, but choose to interpret it a bit differently: My body is a temple and I choose to honor God by having lovely stained glass windows. Your column is quite the subject of discussion in our family, an 88-year-old patriarch, a self-confessed atheist who nevertheless is a member of the local Unitarian Universalist community, a Catholic mother, a caretaking 63-year-old daughter who joined the Presbyterians in her youth but believes the Universe is, Gaia, the creative God force, a sister who invokes the Lord but does not attend church, and four grandsons of various non-faiths including one staunch atheist." -- A from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and no, not a Mormon amongst us.

and...

"I was raised as a Catholic and still can sing (in Latin) most of the Gregorian liturgy. But I have two Jewish, three Catholic, and two Protestant grandchildren. I read your column in our paper religiously (pun intended) and I greatly enjoy your common sense approach. I, also, miss Father Tom." -- From A

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Now that the end piece of my column says "Send all comments and questions to ... and not the unintentionally aggressive "Send questions ONLY to..."I am receiving some lovely comments without a hint of a question.

This comment from M: "I will continue to read your columns. I have saved over 50. I have sent several to friends for whom I think a specific column would be beneficial. Most, if not all of your columns, are rich and insightful. The first thing I read in the paper on Thursday morning is God Squad. Thank you for sharing your wisdom."

And that, dear readers, is why I write.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including "Religion for Dummies," co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman.)