Spirituality

Re “Religion needed” (Your Views, June 9): The writer defined our present problems and offered solutions with Bible documentations. But for those who do not believe in a “higher power,” I would like to present an anthropocentric explanation and solution to our present day decay.

Whether it is as simple as anger or as complex as violence, the epicenter and nexus of all of our social ills is evilness. Events are simply the acting out, never the etiology. Evilness is a learned and practiced behavior that has threatened mankind’s future from the beginning of humanity.

Our survival has been due to our intelligence and spirituality, the two factors that humanize us and place us at the apex.

Today, evilness thrives because humankind expends large amounts of wealth and time to develop and improve its physical, intellectual and emotional health, while ignoring its spiritual health. This spirituality (conscience or morality) is the part of us that protects our survival, helps advance civilization, and enlightens our world. Without it we have no future.

I firmly believe our spirituality comes from a “higher power,” but if you don’t, can we not agree that we should love one another and treat others as we want to be treated? Two simple, common-sense but powerful actions that would stop our self-destruction.

So whatever your belief system, a healthy spirituality is an essential part for our survival. And, if it defines us as being human, why would you want to be subhuman?

Thomas Ranson, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina