True religion seeks to enhance society

Re: “Religion can only destroy earth and the human race,” April 27

Before Fred Lewis delivered his diatribe against religion he should have paid more attention to the New Testament and sought to better understand the old one.

The violent quotes he presented are real, but are only a small portion of Old Testament content. They don’t represent arbitrary brutality but rather the measures deemed necessary to root out pervasive evils.

Mercy is offered as well as judgment: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the righteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7) Or read the Psalms. They express a very personal relationship with God.

Some helpful Old Testament references predict a coming Saviour: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isa 53.6).

The New Testament focuses on the life and ministry of this Saviour. Jesus said: “I have come that they might have life ... more abundantly” ( John 10:10). He accomplished this by sacrificing his life to atone for our sins, thus opening the way to eternal life: “The Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” Matthew (20:28). The Bible’s most quoted verse, John 3:16, makes this offer: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” I see nothing vengeful in these words.

Far from endangering society, true religion seeks to enhance it, while at the same time not compromising with evil. I can’t speak for other faiths but Christianity is doing charitable works worldwide. This is the normal response to religion.

Charmaine Wood Irvine, Alta.