Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 13
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Do it!
[Read the article: I'm a gifted high achiever who wants to be a flight attendant]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Okay, here's another "do it" letter. Way back when, in my mid 20s, I had a similar yearning, for the same reasons. After getting a business degree, I applied, on a whim, to become a flight attendant, got accepted......and declined. I have regretted it ever since. My life at this point (I'm in my 40s) is very satisfactory jobwise, but there's always that little "what did I miss by not following my deepest desire".
Besides, the notion that being a flight attendant is a dead end, jobwise, is simply not true. Granted, the hierarchy may me slimmer than for other types of jobs, but I personally know a woman who started as a flight attendant (with a college degree), and eventually went on to become Director of Cabin Services at a large European airline. So you go, and make the most of it.....I'm sure you'll be amply rewarded. Best of luck!
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The very DEFINITION of Atheism
[Read the article: Seeing the light -- of science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm going to be driven out of my mind!!!!
<<What are your religious beliefs now? "I don't have any." Are you an atheist? "I don't think so. I think that's a belief -- that there's no God.">>
NO NO NO! And surely Numbers knows this - atheism is a LACK of belief in God. That's all. If Numbers can say "I don't have any" religious beliefs, then he is, by definition, an atheist.
Now, yes, many of us atheists DO take things a step further, go out on a limb, and actually say "Yes, I believe there is no God." We are willing to say this for the same reason that most everyone is willing to say "there are no unicorns. Wotan and Poseidon never existed. And as for the fairies at the bottom of my garden? Mere wishful thinking!" Granted, when we say these things, we ARE going a tiny step beyond orthodox atheism (If you'll indulge me in the phrase). But to describe oneself as an atheist is to make a completely passive (not active) statement - I lack a belief in God - I have no belief in God. That's all it is, and that's precisely what Numbers says - word for word!
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More Atheism and Agnosticism
[Read the article: Seeing the light -- of science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Kim,
<<Religion is about beliefs, what do you believe, what is your credo. Atheists believe there are no gods.>>
No they don't (I mean, they MAY, but that is not atheism, in the strictest sense). Atheism is the lack of belief in a God - the LACK of a belief. Something is missing - it is a negative statement. It is NOT a positive statement of the sort "I believe there is no God."
Agnosticism is simply a withheld opinion - "I'm simply not sure whether I believe in God or not." It may even go a tiny step further to "I believe there MAY be a God."
From a SCIENTIFIC point of view, agnosticism is the only reasonable stance - we can't actually prove God DOESN'T exist, and consequently we have remain Agnostic. However, from a more practical standpoint, we may as well go ahead and call ourselves atheists - I mean, we are ALL, after all, atheists as concernes Zeus and Wotan, right? And we're comfortable with that, even though we can't DISprove their existance.
My own stance on the subject (as an atheist) runs along these lines. "No, I have no belief in God. However, I challenge you to tell me something that will compel me to believe what you believe. Go ahead! Give it a shot!!"
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to ktwDawg
[Read the article: Seeing the light -- of science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"It is this natural, turbulent reaction to conflict that allows people of faith to claim the moral high ground- to say that while you may have the advantage in the venue of idea and debate, you are sorely lacking in the venue of life and compassion for your fellow man."
I need to remind you that, if we're discussing people of really EXTRAORDINARY "faith," we would have to include suicide bombers and other terrorists. And yes, I think these suicide bombers and terrorists DO claim for themselves the moral high ground - indeed they do! - but we more rational sorts would beg to differ. It is, in fact, this very issue - that the 'BETTER' one is at one's religion (in other words, the more fundamentalist one is), the more problems one is likely to cause within rational society - that causes us atheists to be willing to argue against religion quite vocally. Theists may find this very distressing, but - argument is just argument, after all - and, as for life and compassion for ones fellow man?.....well, I don't believe an atheist has ever flown a plane into a skyscraper.
I would definitely claim the 'moral high ground' for atheists. Definitely.
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In SANITY we trust??
[Read the article: Seeing the light -- of science]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Atheists are people who for whatever reason cannot observe that which the vast majority of humanity can.
Why is their lack of ability to observe reality considered more rational than a blind man who claims that color is a fanciful imagination of the sighted?"
Why, looky there! In Sanity We Trust has, in the space of a few words, completely re-defined both the word "observe" and the word "reality" so that neither bears any relationship to those words in the English Language the rest of us are using in these notes! Extraordinary - really extraordinary!
And, just to quickly point out - if you pull together a million - no, a billion - no a HUNDRED billion people (even more than the "vast majority of humanity"), and convince them all beyond a shadow of a doubt that there IS in fact a huge pink elephant wandering around on the dark side of the moon, and they all really, REALLY believe it - it still doesn't make it true.