Consider the hypothesis that religions represent paradigms for our relationship with the universe.

I am confused by that sentence; I have no idea what that means.

Within this hypothesis, I think that the "loving god" is a more mature understanding of the universe than Greek polytheism, just like “turn the other cheek” is a more sophisticated sense of social justice than “an eye for an eye”.

I understand what "an eye for an eye" refers to (and, yes, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" and all that), but I'm not sure how to interpret "turn the other cheek," because the first one that comes to mind seems, well, stupid. Not being willing to use force, or have others use force on your behalf, simply leaves you at the mercy of those that are. Pacifism is especially stupid when someone like Charles Whitman decides to start shooting people until someone kills him. It's absurd to "turn the other cheek" to the smallpox virus, or a hunting cougar that thinks you would make a good meal.

Gandhi got lucky that he was dealing with the British and not, say, the Mongols, who would just slaughter anyone who wouldn't pay tribute. Indeed, Jesus himself wasn't as fortunate - as everyone knows, the Romans had him crucified.