The authors of the three atheist books, Richard Dawkins [The God Delusion], Sam Harris [Letter to a Christian Nation], and Daniel Dennett [Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon], apparently reject God on the grounds that religions perpetrate actions that are harmful, and religious doctrine is incompatible with science. General relativity, quantum mechanics, and string/M theory are harder to explain without God than with God. All of nature, from quarks to human consciousness, is so exquisite and awesome that it is foolish to contend that it all came out of nowhere and evolved by chance. It did evolve, but by the laws of chemistry and physics. The God of Scripture is also the God of natural laws. Even if we live in a probabilistic universe, those probabilities operate within the constraints of intelligently designed natural laws. What we need is not to abandon religion but to modernize our understanding of God.
BILL KLEMM
Professor of Neuroscience
Texas A&M University
Bryan, Texas
Tolson writes that Dawkins "...sometimes comes close to confirming Francis Bacon's adage that a 'little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.'" Upon considering Bacon's statement for scientific confirmation, I'm at a loss. Perhaps that is why Tolson included the throwaway phrase "comes close." If so, I suggest a more enlightening addition might have been some factual statements regarding the levels of professed belief in God among current philosophers or the teaching staff in departments of philosophy. Now that would have been really interesting and might even have led to "confirmation," though I'm inclined to think not.
ROGER LILAK
Petoskey, Mich.
No one can deny that religions and religious adherents have their faults. Even so, one only has to look back on the 20th century to realize that whenever and wherever atheism prevailed, the death and destruction that followed was on an unprecedented scale. Stalin's atheistic Soviet Union and Hitler's atheistic Third Reich were responsible for millions of deaths. If history is a guide to atheistic dominance, I'd just as soon stick with the flawed faithful.
PEGGY MULLER
Riverside, Calif.
Sam Harris casts a bad light on all religious people, saying that they don't think about suffering. I disagree. Although not a model person, I am characterized by some as "religious," and I care very much about suffering. Mother Teresa was "religious" and dedicated her life to serving and trying to relieve suffering.
TARA WOLF
Barrington, Ill.
Being an atheist is a logically untenable position. If a person is absolutely certain there is no God, he/she would then know everything and would qualify for the title. I am a bit more comfortable with some assumed humility in agnosticism.
TOM BAKER
Waitsburg, Wash.
It is important to differentiate between "religion" and "faith," especially in a discussion about whether religion harms people more than helps. "Religion" is outward expression of belief in God, and "faith" is one's personal belief in God. There are plenty of people who are "religious," that is, they practice religion but do not have true faith. Religion without faith, by definition hypocritical, certainly can lead to the abuses decried by the atheists in the article. However, true and humble faith in a creative, loving, merciful, judicious, and all-powerful God inspires and empowers believers to build a better world for all people.
ALEXANDRA MEZZINA
North Andover, Mass.
Angry--Customer Rx
"Writing A New Script" [November 13] on the proposed merger of CVS Corp. and Caremark Rx was interesting and identified several risks, including "new services" outside the doctor-patient relationship. I am stuck with Caremark Rx until I go on Medicare, but there is ample opportunity to express my disgust by not using their local distributor, CVS.
SANFORD I. PEARL
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Employees I know were very happy with the Medco prescription plan, but the company switched to Caremark, which, in my case, comes with a 300 percent cost increase. Wal-Mart, here we come for $4 generic prescriptions!
JAMES BARRETT
Shawnee Mission, Kan.
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