Tabatab'i shows what is wrong with organized in the title of his article. He writes "Islam is the Road to Happiness." Perhaps it is, for him, but I tend to think that there is more than one way to happiness. Islam cannot be the only road to happiness because not everyone has access to its holy texts or teachings. I agree that both believers and non-believers have a path in life. However, it is not the path itself that provides happiness, it is the freedom to choose our path that leads us to happiness. We may choose to change paths several times before we find the one that makes us truly happy. In my personal experience I have chosen paths of empiricism and atheism, but it is the path of Christianity that has made me most happy and complete.

I tend to agree with most of Chittister's article. She provides a rule that focuses on moderation. Most people can agree that moderation in everything is a comfortable and healthy way to live. We can not live totally in the world of man, yet we cannot live totally in the spirit world either, we must mix both elements into our lives. The part of her article that I agree with most deals with connectedness. We must be connected to the earth, each other, and our God in order to live happy lives. We need a variety of elements in our lives to make us completely happy. This is a very liberal view for a Catholic, in my experience, Catholics believe that the only thing needed for happiness is God, Chittister explains that we are complex beings with comlex needs.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2000