It's sad and irritating to see the shoddy thinking of apologists like Allen S. Thorpe (Readers' Forum, May 27). After first admitting some ignorance, he glibly states that faith in a nebulous unknown causes a rational argument.

Archie Bunker is credited with having said, "Faith is something you believe that nobody in his right mind would believe."

Here are Mr. Thorpe's real words: "I'm not sure what atheists believe, other than that there is no God, but without faith in something greater beyond this life, it's pretty tough to give a reasoned argument for a number of virtues." Many readers, no doubt, see such a statement and nod in agreement. There's a ring of truth; we've heard similar slogans before.

A second point — the faulty assertion that altruism and self-sacrifice work against Darwinian selection is shopworn, old fashioned and wrong. Our schools are impotent and strangled by Bush's faith basis.

Harald Illig

View Comments

Salt Lake City

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.