If You Have Nothing Nice To Say, Don't Say It At All

"But the Gospels actually taught this: Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn't well connected."(p. 138)

This aphorism is insulting to Christians everywhere.  Why would an alien who is trying to learn about the human culture only focus on people who believe in God? Why would he only focus on the limited times Christians have been cruel?! The alien clearly does not understand the human culture.  Not everyone on the globe is a christian.  There are other religions which include: Buddhism, Judaism, Muslim, etc.  How would the alien feel if a random human being came to his/her planet and started judging something that he/she barely knew about?! All the Bible said is that those who persecuted the lord would be punished. It was the crowd's and Pontius Pilate's decision to hang Jesus Christ up on a cross.  I shouldn't be blaming the alien for this quote, I should be blaming Kilgore Trout.  He is the author of the book The Gospel From Outer Space and it is here that the sentence is located.

What does Kilgore Trout have against Christians? Why does he feel the need to put them down? I'm sure everyone has heard of the famous saying mothers and fathers enjoy telling little kids: If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.  Apparently Trout hasn't heard of it or he chooses not to pay attention to it.  Everyone is free to have their own opinion, but you should be careful of how you express it.    Imagine if Kilgore had become successful with his book? The Christians would be furious and the problem could get violent.  It was a silly mistake of his that could have been easily avoided.

I have been in that situation many times and this lesson should definitely be taught in school.  One time I wanted to give my opinion on some body's outfit.  I said that I didn't really like it and that she should definitely choose another one.  That hurt her and she got very upset.  It was a silly mistake of mine because I didn't choose the right words or phrase to give my opinion with.

Eliot Rosewater, Billy's roommate in the veteran hospital,introduced him to Kilgore Trout.  Since then "Kilgore Trout became Billy's favorite living author, and science fiction became the only sort of tales he could read." (p.128) Billy got his crazy idea of Tralfamadorians living in a fourth dimension from him. Kilgore Trout has had a big influence on Billy and his ideas.  As mentioned in the aphorism above, he only reads Trout's books because he thinks he is a good author, even though he agrees with Rosewater when he says: "Jesus-if Kilgore Trout could only write!"(p.140) Billy backs him up by thinking, "He had a point: Kilgore Trout's unpopularity was deserved. His prose was frightful. Only his ideas were good." (p.140)