Meditations on the meaning of religion in our lives

ALTHOUGH JEFF Jacoby's "Why we need religion" (Op-ed, April 18) cites excellent examples to support the claim that, despite its faults, much good has been done in the name of religion, we should remember that religion also fosters the two most destructive vices in this world: ignorance and intolerance. This is no generalization. This is by definition. Ignorance because it rallies its followers around absolute matters of dogma, letting ancient scripture -- not experiential thinking --dictate their lives. Intolerance because it demands that its followers declare an exclusive creed, implying that those who deviate from that creed are somehow incorrect, or incomplete, in their thinking, or, taken to an extreme, an infidel, who "thou shalt stone . . . because he hath sought to thrust thee away from . . . thy God" (Deuteronomy, 13:10).

Good acts are done by good people; by people who live for this world; by people who recognize their responsibility for this world. If the atheists comprised about 80 percent of America, as the Christians now do, we would know their contributions to society.

SEAN MICHAEL KIELY
Worcester

The writer is a student at College of the Holy Cross.

JACOBY TAKES issue with Elton John's extreme statement that religion "turns people into hateful lemmings [and is] not really compassionate" and then suggests that Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot have provided a preview of what banning all religion can lead to. But neither religion nor atheism holds a monopoly on compassion or hatred. Extremism in all its forms is what we both praise and detest -- on the one side for its self-sacrificing call to action and on the other for its self-serving heartlessness.

Religion may provide a petri dish for extremes of behavior, but it is not the only medium in which these can grow.

CHRISTINE HARTMANN
Bedford

JACOBY GIVES up the game at the start. He measures religion using the secular humanist yardstick of social utility: Religion is important because it inspires priests to participate in outreach programs in scary neighborhoods; religion compelled Mother Teresa to help the dying paupers on the streets of Calcutta.

But when evaluating atheism vs. belief in God, social utility does not matter, even a little bit. What gives us spiritual fulfillment does not matter, even a little bit. What makes us better people or what we would like to believe does not matter, even a little bit. The one and only thing that matters here is the question: Does God exist? In the name of intellectual integrity, each of us must evaluate the God hypothesis as rationally as possible and let the social chips fall where they may. There simply is no other honest basis upon which to evaluate these matters.

JOHN GREGG
Winchester

JEFF JACOBY is right to praise the efforts of religious leaders to improve the lives of others, but wrong to presume that non-believers make no similar efforts. Last weekend a conference at Harvard called "The New Humanism" brought together secular humanists, atheists, and freethinkers from across the globe, including Salman Rushdie and E. O. Wilson, to promote community outreach, compassion, and tolerance.

Our organizations prefer an inclusive approach, working with and learning from our religious peers, in order to improve the world. This is in stark contrast to the us vs. them mentality that Jacoby seems to advocate.

PETER R. BLAKE
Cambridge

The writer is president of the Harvard Graduate Humanist Community.

JACOBY CLAIMS religion brings out the best in people. He also admits that atheists can be altruistic and pietists brutal.

Should he have published a scorecard? How would it read? Would every life taken or person helped rate a point? Stalin would score high -- he was both an atheist and a high-efficiency killer. Mother Teresa? We don't keep vital statistics on lives or souls saved. How many points would her work garner?

Maybe we should rather count the doers. Were there more Darrows and Wallenbergs than Torquemadas and Khomeinis? Hitler was a Christian, though, considering the Wagner connection, he might have been a pagan. Was he really religious?

I think compassion is a divine gift, no strings attached, while evil is all too human. Making faith a condition is like tying it to athletic achievement -- merely a distraction. Remember, virtue is its own reward.

God planned well.

IRA and SHIRLEY STEIN
Sharon