Response to Yudany

After reading Yudany's post, I realized that in the several times I've read the Gaines' piece, I never once thought about the boy's upbringing, who is parents were, and how they feel about their son's choice to have faith in his mind over his heart and over God. Since this boy seems to be well-educated, I wonder about his socioeconomic background, and whether or not his parents are also well-educated. All of these things contribute to a particular kind of freedom a person feels that they possess... perhaps his parents were more open with him, allowed him or encouraged him to rely more on his mind/logic than matters of the spirit. Or maybe he was a complete rebel. It's difficult to tell, but I do think that it is very important to think about the influences of each individual's background on his/her ways of thinking. Background is by no means the determining factor in how one thinks, but sometimes its influence can be profound.