In Re: Arthur Saginian. “Looking Closer at Religion,” letters, Jan. 28.
Speaking as a non-religious person who considers himself as an open-minded agnostic since I want to cover all my bases, and as I frequently reply to people when they ask if I believe in God, I tell them that no I do not but I think she believes in me!
I do, however, find all the world’s religions fascinating and among my vast collection of books I have very nice leather-bound “bibles” (for lack of a better word) of all the major world religions that I frequently read. I found it fascinating that the man Christians refer to as Jesus (Isa in Arabic) is mentioned by name and referred to more often in the Quran than he is in the Christian Bible. The Muslims believed that he was a Holy Man and Prophet and was a precursor to Muhammad. They did not, however, believe he was actually the son of God.
Back to my point: I just have to comment on Mr. Saginian’s most recent swipe at those among us who dare to think and believe in certain ways that obviously don’t conform to Mr. Saginian’s views of the world.
First off, let’s be very clear here: None of we mortals can prove or disprove the existence of a God. I believe that’s why religion is defined as “the belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers, regarded as creating and governing the universe.” If it could be proven it would be a FACT not a BELIEF!
A few points to rebut some of Mr. Saginian’s points:
Point No. 1: No matter your personal views, by definition abortion consists of the destroying of a fetus. And it would appear the only real point of contention is whether that fetus is considered a human being while it is still in the mother’s womb. If a person believes it is a human being, then it’s quite logical they would be against killing it for any reason other than to save the life of the mother carrying it, which, despite what abortion advocates proclaim, is very seldom the case in today’s world.
Point No. 2: Where did these white Christians get Black slaves? If you said they bought them from Black slave traders on the African continent, which still practices slavery today, go to the head of the class!
Point No. 3: There is no such thing as a “Native American” as no human beings are “native” to the Americas, as they all came here from other parts of the world. Certain people may have been here a bit longer than others but like everyone else they migrated to this land from somewhere else. And the people inhabiting the Americas back then were just as cruel, brutal and warlike as any people on Earth at that particular time in history.
Rick Barker
Valencia
