Pace Prabhu Guptara:  
  
I certainly plead guilty to talking about Christianity in an   
undifferentiated way.  And I think his differentiation between elite   
education and popular education seems on the surface to be sensible.   
But I wonder how accurate his conclusions are.  
  
Is it the case that, in Judaism and Islam for instances, that only   
the elite are educated or that there is no emphasis on independent   
thinking by the mass?  (I am impressed in non-caliphate Islam by the   
diversity of opinions that are stated by the elites, and suspect that   
the individuals in the whole culture have to think for themselves who   
to follow.)  
        I am also wary about the Protestant priesthood of all   
believers.  I know that the idea is that Protestants read and   
interpret the Bible for themselves.  But is that really true in   
practice in Protestantism?  Luther read the Bible for himself, but   
once the established Lutheran church came into existence, you had to   
follow the Lutheran interpretation of the Bible.  Maybe you can argue   
that there is a 'culture' of knowledge, but I also think that within   
each church there is a specific teaching ....  
  
Peter G. Stillman