“I’m not a believer, but there’s a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian,” he added.
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Musk told Peterson that while he is not a “religious person,” he has read and values various religious texts.
“When I was…about 11 or 12 years old, I had somewhat of an existential crisis, because there just didn’t seem to be any meaning in the world, like no meaning to life,” Musk said. “And so I actually read probably all the religious texts.”
Musk said that he also read various philosophical works.
“And none of them really seemed to have, to me, answers that resonated—at least to me,” Musk said. “But then I read Douglas Adams’ ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ which is really a book on philosophy disguised as humor.”
“The point that Adams tries to make there is that we don’t actually know all the answers, obviously. In fact, we don’t even know what the right questions are to ask,” Musk argued.
Musk went on to say that he subscribes to the “religion of curiosity.”
“While I’m not a particularly religious person, I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise, and that there’s tremendous wisdom in ‘turn the other cheek,’” Musk said later in the conversation, adding the caveat that the only way to stop a school bully is with “a punch in the nose…and then thereafter make peace.”
“So anyways, I think this notion of forgiveness is important. I think it’s essential,” Musk contended. “So I’m actually a big believer in the principles of Christianity. I think they’re very good.”
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In turn Peterson asked, “So in what sense then are you not religious?”
