Reason and logic are tools in theology

As an historian of science, I’m afraid Jeff Weiler’s letter illustrates the truism that we are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts. His claims, popular among atheist writers, are remarkably fact-free.

Does “religion” really cause “the vast majority of violence” in the world? Extremists of all faiths and ideologies must be condemned, but calling their despicable actions “religious” when they violate core tenets of the faith they claim to follow is misleading and simplistic.

True, organized religion has perpetrated unjustifiable crimes. It has also worked globally to advance peacemaking, justice, and even science. Further, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Mao Zedong remind us that genocide doesn’t require a religious warrant.

The idea of a scientific “Dark Age” and a centuries-long delay in the rise of science due to Christianity is utterly false; Christianity acted as both womb and midwife in the birth of modern science (e.g. Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Blaise Pascal, Isaac Newton). During the early Middle Ages, Christian scholars preserved and disseminated Latin scientific works. Muslims translated Greek texts into Arabic, which were then translated into Latin. Jews also helped uncover, translate, and develop ancient science. Reason, logic, and common sense are tools of theology as well as science.

Finally, Christianity never taught that one “could fall off the side of the Earth.” Since before Christianity began, thinkers followed Aristotle, Aristarchus, and Eratosthenes in believing in a spherical Earth. Paul Fayter, Dundas