Your Published Letters

From the October 7, 2007, edition of the Boston Globe:

'Rejecting religion'

As a humanist, I found "The Nonbelievers" to be a refreshingly objective and inspiring article. As for the temporary differences of opinion reported in the larger community of reason, I fully expect Harvard University's effective expression of humanism to overcome them. After all, people who identify themselves as atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others are all in essential agreement. Every one of us has experienced the feeling of liberation that comes when a nontheistic outlook frees us from myth and dogma.

Roy Speckhardt
Executive Director
American Humanist Association
Washington, D.C.

From the October 5, 2007, edition of the National Catholic Reporter:

'Spain's Catholics'

Re Mary Ann Cejka's article "Defending the faith" (Sept 14), the question needs to be asked: Why in a traditionally solidly Catholic country like Spain did most Spaniards side with the secular-trending elected Republican government and feel animosity toward the church while church officials sided with Franco's rebels and the Nazis and Italian fascists?

In the first free elections after Franco's death the distribution of votes from left to right was just about the same as in the Spanish elections of early 1936.

When I was in Spain in late 1981 I was pleased to hear that the cardinal primate of Toledo apologized publicly for the Church's support for Franco and declared that it would not be a sin to vote for the Socialist Workers Party, which won.

Edd Doerr
Silver Spring, MD

From the October 2, 2007, edition of Christian Century:

"Advice to atheists ... "

Marty Marty's "Atheism redux" (July 24) was right on target. Those who loudly proclaim their atheism from the rooftops seem to spend all their effort denouncing all religion, while failing to differentiate between militant fundamentalism and the mainstream, -- and who seldom offer positive alternatives or express interest in working with the religious mainstream to promote such common values as social justice, peace, saving the environment, civil liberties, religious freedom and democracy -- should all read Marty's good-natured essay and "get a life".

Ben Franklin's advice is as sound now as it was over two centuries ago: "We should then cease to reproach each other with what was done by our ancestors, but judge the present character of sects or churches by their present conduct only".

Edd Doerr
Immediate past president, American Humanist Association
Silver Spring, MD 20916

From the September 25, 2007, edition of the Nation:

Re "Big Brother Democracy"

Naomi Klein brings up some excellent points about how the heads of the states that make up North America believe that allowing protestors to be "seen and heard" from behind barbed wire while our leaders dine at the Chateau Montebello with the CEOs of Chevron, Ford, Lockheed Martin, and Wal-Mart--all who are on Global Exchange's 2005 list of worst corporations--is actually an acceptable.

I recently authored an article for The Humanist magazine titled "The Security and Prosperity Partnership Summit, Are Our Leaders Undermining Democracy?" In it I wrote, "Imagine how we would shake our heads in pity if we were to read about the heads of state of three developing countries barricaded in a luxury villa with the wealthy ruling class elite while the people protested behind the barbed wire. "If only they could live in a democracy," we would say with a regretful sigh."

I wish I had been creative enough to refer to it as the "Big Brother Democracy" it is. The mainstream media (except for Agence France Presse) has done little more than regurgitate the official press releases on the summit, so thank you, Ms. Klein and The Nation, for taking a critical look at what's happening.

Edward Johnson
American Humanist Association
Washington, DC

From the September 16, 2007, edition of the Anniston Star:

Re "Dancing to our DNA"

In an earlier letter, I did not say, "If there is a God, how could he allow such evil to exist?" I said that I could not revere the cruel, capricious, vindictive and irrational Judeo-Christian God.

As to moral laws and a moral lawgiver, Plato effectively addressed this issue more than 2,300 years ago. Socrates asked if a behavior is good because the gods declare it to be good or because the behavior is good. If the former, then morality is arbitrarily determined by capricious gods. If the latter, then a behavior is objectively good and humans can know right from wrong using the power of reason without a divine lawgiver.

Reason tells us to protect the well-being of children with laws against child abuse. God's laws advocate child abuse. "Stubborn and rebellious sons are to be stoned by the men of the city until they die." Deuteronomy 21:18-21.

The Golden Rule puts the onus for responsible behavior on the individual. Exercising reason, you treat others as you want to be treated. The individual is the moral arbiter, not God. Atheists have no problem determining right and wrong. Reason does not "self-destruct."

DAVID N. MILES
Orange Beach

From the September 13, 2007, edition of the Montgomery Adviser:

Would omnipotent God need government?

I find it astonishing that Frank Hardy has so little confidence in his God -- a God purported to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and all-merciful.

It is hard to imagine that a being with the above qualities would merely put his tail between his legs and skulk away when he and his followers are challenged by the ACLU.

Does God really need the government to ensure that he is acknowledged? If God's will can be undermined by "a plot afoot today to hamper and to discourage those who are Christians," I fail to see how he can meaningfully bless America or protect us from the power of Satan.

If, in fact, God is losing the battle against the ACLU, I can only conclude that God is devoid of any real power or does not know or care what is happening on Earth.

However, if I were a devout Christian, I would prefer to believe that God is concerned with the well-being of all humankind and is not obsessed with having his ego stroked with conspicuous prayers and symbols in the public arena.

Possibly, as our deist founding fathers believed when they omitted God from the Constitution, God does not interfere in the affairs of man. Maybe God has confidence that the creatures he endowed with intelligence can follow a path of righteousness by eschewing superstition and embracing the power of reason.

Thank you, ACLU, for protecting my freedoms from the will of the religious majority.

DAVID N. MILES
Orange Beach

From the September 11, 2007, edition of the Idaho Statesman:

Letter of the Day: So much misery is the result of religion

Today, Sept. 11, marks the anniversary of one of the most perfidious attacks on American citizens.

This was the infamous 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, which has been described by historians as the worst Indian massacre in American history - except that it wasn't committed by Indians, it was committed by ordinary Euro-Americans in a frenzy of religious madness working under the orders of a deluded, self-styled man of faith.

Fast forward 144 years to 2001 and once again innocent Americans were murdered by religiously inspired zealots working under the orders of a deluded, self-styled man of faith.

How can so much misery be the result of religion?

First, one must realize that all religions require their adherents to turn off their minds. This makes them more easily susceptible to control by their power-hungry clergy. The Abrahamaic religions go one step further by commanding that there be no other gods.

From this commandment, as Thomas Jefferson so poignantly wrote, "Millions of innocent men, women, and children . have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned."

Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg has concluded that all it takes for good people to do bad things is religion. Now you know why these atrocities occurred.

Gary Bennett, Emmett

From the September 10, 2007, edition of the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch:

'Humanism is rich, positive philosophy'

The August 31 Faith & Values article "Against the tide" dealt mainly with the negative side of humanism and atheism. Humanism is a positive philosophy or "lifestance" that places the highest importance on reason, science, compassion, democracy, freedom, and ethics. Humanists share many values with progressive Catholics, Protestants, Jews and others concerned with the problems that face all of us, such as global warming, resource depletion, deforestation, desertification, the growing gap between the superrich and the rest of us, racism, sexism, xenophobia, deficits in social justice, civil liberties and democracy. Naturalistic humanism has a rich positive tradition, while atheism deals only with the absence of belief in a deity. Journalists and others need to make this distinction more clear.

Edd Doerr
Immediate past president
American Humanism Association
Silver Spring, MD

From the September 9, 2007 issue of the Pensacola News Journal:

'Pray for peace'

During times of armed conflict there is a crescendo of calls for prayers for peace. But just what, pray tell, is the causal connection between prayer and peace?

Individuals and clergy have been praying for peace for centuries, and for centuries armed conflict has shaped human history. Either God thrives on human carnage, is deaf and blind, doesn't give a darn or does not exist.

Those who call for prayer tell us that God is the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient one who loves us dearly. If so, do we really have to clue God in and then beg him to keep thousands of innocent people from being mutilated and destroyed?

We cannot rely on simplistic solutions to geopolitical problems. We must spend more time learning about and understanding world conditions, and less time attempting to get a free ride from ineffectual deity.

Instead of praying, resort to reason and demand that our leaders do the same. Divine inspiration has led the president, and hence our nation, into and not out of turbulent times.

There are Americans with exceptional powers of reason; these are the people we need in positions of authority. A superstitious leader engaging in mysticism will surely fail to preserve America's peace and prosperity.

David N. Miles
Orange Beach, Ala.