We need morality based on social cooperation, not religion
To the woman who believes that our country’s problems would be solved with the “basic morality that comes from religion,” I have a few quibbles of my own.
Christian voters, particularly white evangelical Protestants, have brought us leaders who have passed mindbogglingly amoral laws. They’ve stripped women of autonomy over their bodies, resulting in the death of at least five women who experienced delayed or denied standard health care after abortion bans were enacted, three in Texas and two in Georgia, SO FAR.
They’ve ordered masked men dressed in black with no badges to terrorize and “disappear” immigrants who have fled to our shores for asylum, including people with legal status. They’ve shipped them to other countries’ prisons that aren’t even their country of origin, without any due process at all.
They’ve passed gun laws making it easier to buy guns with the ability to fire up to 200 rounds a minute (hair triggers) and making silencers legal. This has not made us safer.
Were Jesus here, He’d have a few things to say. He’d welcome immigrants with open arms (see The Good Samaritan); provide women health care when needed (see Luke 8:43-48); and would condemn the use of guns with no purpose other than to kill other human beings (see the sixth commandment).
Millions of deaths have occurred in our history because of religion. Wars are being fought, and human beings are dying by genocide and starvation in the name of religion. I absolutely, unreservedly and unconditionally reject the statement that morality comes from religion.
I know of no atheists committing genocide, starting wars in the name of their leader, advocating for the detention/deportation of those in need or denying a woman (or anyone) lifesaving care.
We need morality based on social cooperation, not religion.
Andrea Pappas Merrill, Boulder
Wrap your head around the numbers in the news
Sometimes it’s good to try to wrap your mind around the numbers you see in the news.
In the news on Sunday, I read that Xcel Energy “left 1.6 million tons of toxic coal ash on the property, and now that waste is leaking hazardous metals into groundwater, threatening nearby drinking-water wells.”
OK, sounds like a lot of coal ash. But how much is that really? An average American car weighs 2 tons — so we have the equivalent in weight of 800,000 cars.
Seems like a lot of cars.
Paul Perlmutter, Boulder
U.S. should stay out of the Middle East
Under George H. W. Bush, the presidency vetoed aid to Israel due to the money being diverted to build illegal settlements. Congress overruled him. The Senate was and still is afraid of crossing AIPAC.
No, I do not like white supremacists, nor other racist organizations. Israel is simply working in its own interests, as should we. Their interests are not always our own. Israel has erased and stolen the land of the Palestinians with great assistance from the U.S.
I do not believe in the Abrahamic religions. No prophets. No miracles. No magic. The three great religions are three great mythologies. I do not care for the Nazis nor other bigoted groups.
This letter will probably get a knee-jerk response that I am an antisemite, etc. Nope. The Islamic lands are very far from tolerant. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, etc. would have my head for insulting Islam. There are many atheists, agnostics in Israel. However, the same region has been at each other’s throats for thousands of years. I want us to stay out of it. The Orthodox settlers are not far enough ideologically from the Taliban for my tastes. Nor am I a fan of Arafat, who assassinated many moderates in his rise to power. Nor Hamas, which was worse than Arafat.
Israel can pay for weapons with their own money without U.S. subsidies. AIPAC is a foreign interest lobby that has undue influence in the U.S. Congress. Had the lobbies been curtailed as the late McCain had made efforts to, perhaps Congress would have better served the general U.S. public interests.
I always vote. Many people who are not anti-Israel feel as I do for the U.S. to not be so involved in the Middle East’s never-ending war zones, but are afraid to speak out.
E.A. Holland, Longmont
