Religion, rationality don’t mix

Re Are we going back to medieval times? Letter June 21 The compassion and understanding that readers Sandy McInnes and Howard Stephenson plead for — the humanity that serves as the glue that binds us as a civilized society — is sadly lacking.

To answer their question, “When will we learn that life is not infinite, and it is a precious gift that we are only granted but once?” one needs only to look toward the three monotheistic religions. People such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have tried for years to deconstruct religion. The two domains, rational thinking and religion, at no point intersect. Their mutual exclusively prevents us from moving beyond medieval times. Nicholas Kostiak, Tottenham, Ont.

It is a pity and a shame that there is no inoculation for stupidity, ignorance, hatred borne of religion, homophobia and the hollow platitudes of Americans who claim the carnage of events such as Orlando and Sandy Hook Elementary School do not define them as a nation. On the contrary, it defines them with pathological precision. Louis MacPherson, Bowmanville, Ont.

Re Lax gun laws at the root of U.S. crisis, Letters June 18 Mark Borkowski, a member of the NRA, argues that if, only if, someone in the Orlando club had a “carry licence” and a gun, Omar Mateen would have been shot dead in five minutes.

Leaving aside the obvious insanity of assuming that arming intoxicated club-goers would have resulted in less carnage, Borkowski misses two key points: 1. Someone in the club, other than Mateen, was armed — an off duty police officer; and 2. Someone in the club did have a “concealed carry” licence — that person was Mateen himself. Dougal Martin, San Francisco, Calif.