On atheism and its dangers
Re: Enough is enough!, Conrad Black, April 8
As an atheist, I accept the roots of our civilization, and all the thinking, debate, and writings that have over the centuries come to define Western thought — both religious and non- religious. While I cannot deny the religious part of our roots, I differ from Conrad Black by not having a belief that those roots are of supernatural origin. There is no god or goddess in my world view, and no logical reason that I can come up with as to why there should be. That does not mean I discard the baby with the bathwater.
Atheism, at least from my limited experience as an atheist, is not devoid of any spirituality, nor do I look to replace faith in a deity with an ideological despot. I just do not have any belief, neither by faith or by logic, in the existence of a supernatural force or intelligence.
But for some reason this is a thorn in Black’s side.
It is hard for me to take Black seriously when he overgeneralizes and simplifies, lashing out against atheism with great verbosity. I have compassion for his pain around this, as it seems that his contact with atheists has been very painful for him indeed. Perhaps bed rest and a little perspective would be helpful — and some assurance that there are atheists out there, like me, who do mean him no harm. Gary Rose, Toronto Atheism is too broad a brush for evaluating people. There are irrational atheists, such as Communists and modern relativists/nihilists, and rational atheists who apply reason consistently and do not abandon reason for faith just because they cannot yet explain something, such as the origin of life.
Giving it a mystical explanation explains nothing; it merely raises a potentially infinite series of questions that get mystical answers until one decides to dogmatically stop asking and declare it the Truth, and perhaps imprison those like Galileo, or execute those like Giordano Bruno.
Applied consistently, reason leads to a rational code of ethics that can be summarized simply as “live and let live.”
Conrad Black’s idea that we need a mystical philosophy to have a civilized moral code is wrong. Glenn Woiceshyn, Calgary Although I remain among the “atheistic banshees” and “hyperactive philistines” who see no evidence of “miracles” or “supernatural forces,” I admire Conrad Black greatly for inviting reader f eedback and responding professionally to it.
Unlike the rest of the Canadian media and political establishment, he has the strength to express the views of much of your readership: that Islam receives “cowardly indulgence,” that native grievances attract “mawkish, excessive pandering,” and that a beauty parlour owner should not knock John A. Macdonald off the $10 bill. Jim McMurtry, Surrey, B. C.