Choose Reason, Not Superstitution
(Printed in the Towanda Daily Review on 11/19/03.)
Editor:

Vincent Calaman’s letter (Review, 11/14/03) about the evils of atheism and the benevolence of his religion reminded me of a H.L. Mencken quote, “We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.”

I don’t know if Mr. Calaman is married or if he has children, but I will respect his theory that they are beautiful and smart. However, I will comment on the theory of his religion. Regardless of what religion one professes to adhere to, there are millions, and even billions, of adherents to other religions that are convinced that your beliefs are wrong.

Mr. Calaman’s religion of choice is Christianity, one of thousands worldwide. Even though its adherents number in the billions, there are also billions who “know” that it is the wrong religion. Assuming one thousand religions, each adherent accepts one belief system and discounts the remaining 999. All believers, Calaman included, share 99.9% of the conclusions of the atheist, who merely adds the remaining 0.1% and discounts all religions.

As I have offered in the past, any number of adherents to different religions are invited to my house. They can then argue, fight, pray, and attempt to determine which of their religions is the one true religion, and which of their gods is the one true god. When that happens, the group, including me, will join that religion.

Until then, I will continue to support reason, not superstition, as the method to govern this country.

John L. Ferri
jlferri@epix.net


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