Annoying Creationist Letter, Re: the environment

[Matthew Shute]

Seen in a local newspaper:

Have some faith
I LOVE to read the Faith Matter column, so imagine my disappointment when I read last week's; if I wanted a lesson in botany I would have consulted a library book, oh I'm sorry I meant looked it up on the web.

When God created the earth, he looked at it and saw that it was good. It was only when he made man that everything went pear shaped.

[...(blah blah blah)...]

So is it too late? Well we all have our own ideas. Don't panic - the Bible does tell us that there will be a new heaven and earth, [Rev 21] and verse one. Also we don't need any lesson in biology - the light we need to see is Jesus, the light of the world.

So, I fired off a quick reply:

P Thomas (Letters, 26, February) implies that we don’t need to panic about the damage we cause to the environment because, according the Biblical promises, everything will turn out well in the end, with a new heaven and earth provided for everyone to pollute afresh. Hopefully, few readers will indulge this complacent woolly thinking; perhaps, as an alternative, we could think about trying to limit the harm we cause.

P Thomas further insults the intelligence of every reader by preaching his belief in Creationism, a philosophy so loopy that most major churches have repudiated it. According to Mr. Thomas, we can do without biology, since all we need is Jesus, “the light of the world”. Like many non-religious people, I am struck instead by the constant stream of “white noise” streaming from the lips of Creationists who treat empirical evidence with airy indifference and science as a triviality. Why, indeed, would fact-based reality concern us if we could all inhabit a fantasy-world of magic and miracles, basing our opinions about the world on a particular book of self-contradictory myths? Some of us, however, opt to grow up.

[MattHunX]

Seen in a local newspaper:

Have some faith
I LOVE to read the Faith Matter column, so imagine my disappointment when I read last week's; if I wanted a lesson in botany I would have consulted a library book, oh I'm sorry I meant looked it up on the web.

When God created the earth, he looked at it and saw that it was good. It was only when he made man that everything went pear shaped.

[...(blah blah blah)...]

So is it too late? Well we all have our own ideas. Don't panic - the Bible does tell us that there will be a new heaven and earth, [Rev 21] and verse one. Also we don't need any lesson in biology - the light we need to see is Jesus, the light of the world.

So, I fired off a quick reply:

P Thomas (Letters, 26, February) implies that we don’t need to panic about the damage we cause to the environment because, according the Biblical promises, everything will turn out well in the end, with a new heaven and earth provided for everyone to pollute afresh. Hopefully, few readers will indulge this complacent woolly thinking; perhaps, as an alternative, we could think about trying to limit the harm we cause.

P Thomas further insults the intelligence of every reader by preaching his belief in Creationism, a philosophy so loopy that most major churches have repudiated it. According to Mr. Thomas, we can do without biology, since all we need is Jesus, “the light of the world”. Like many non-religious people, I am struck instead by the constant stream of “white noise” streaming from the lips of Creationists who treat empirical evidence with airy indifference and science as a triviality. Why, indeed, would fact-based reality concern us if we could all inhabit a fantasy-world of magic and miracles, basing our opinions about the world on a particular book of self-contradictory myths? Some of us, however, opt to grow up.

Indeed. Why should we know anything about biology!?
Continuing their logic why should we care if someone dies, they'll go to heaven, it's a better place for them, they're safe.
Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries. That would give the folks at NASA enough time to get humanity off this planet or perhaps enough time to start making things right. Better government, without the right-wing, conservative religious morons. Pests.

Why should we, on their logic, care about their meaningless, pathetic little lives. Why should we bother to reconcile or anything. If they want to be with their god so much, then by all means, please, kill themselves and let the rest of us and the world prosper.

[feign_ignorence]

Indeed. Why should we know anything about biology!?
Continuing their logic why should we care if someone dies, they'll go to heaven, it's a better place for them, they're safe.
Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries.
...
Why should we bother to reconcile or anything. If they want to be with their god so much, then by all means, please, kill themselves and let the rest of us and the world prosper.

What a horrible comment

[Matthew Shute]

Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries.

Dubious.

Incidentally, my reply to P Thomas's idiotic letter (sans the last paragraph) appeared in the Solihull News, 5, March. (w00t.)

[MattHunX]

Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries.

Dubious.

Incidentally, my reply to P Thomas's idiotic letter (sans the last paragraph) appeared in the Solihull News, 5, March. (w00t.)

Uh...right. From how you start that line, I'd assume that you would've preferred if in didn't appear. But, your ending seems to indicate that you do.

[Matthew Shute]

Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries.

Dubious.

Incidentally, my reply to P Thomas's idiotic letter (sans the last paragraph) appeared in the Solihull News, 5, March. (w00t.)

Uh...right. From how you start that line, I'd assume that you would've preferred if in didn't appear. But, your ending seems to indicate that you do.

I have no idea what you're talking about. If I didn't want it to appear, why would I have sent it in? And why would I then tell you about it? Of course I would have preferred the last paragraph to appear, but the Editor of the newspaper obviously has editorial control - it's no big deal. I'm celebrating the fact that they printed it, not the fact that they deleted some of it.

Maybe I've misunderstood your post. Then again, the meaning of your post isn't very clear.

[MattHunX]

Why do then, should they even be alive? Ignorance of this kind shouldn't even be allowed, period. They should all just commit mass-suicide and do the rest of the world a favor. Would solve the over-population issue for a few centuries.

Dubious.

Incidentally, my reply to P Thomas's idiotic letter (sans the last paragraph) appeared in the Solihull News, 5, March. (w00t.)

Uh...right. From how you start that line, I'd assume that you would've preferred if in didn't appear. But, your ending seems to indicate that you do.

I have no idea what you're talking about. If I didn't want it to appear, why would I have sent it in? And why would I then tell you about it? Of course I would have preferred the last paragraph to appear, but the Editor of the newspaper obviously has editorial control - it's no big deal. I'm celebrating the fact that they printed it, not the fact that they deleted some of it.

Maybe I've misunderstood your post. Then again, the meaning of your post isn't very clear.

I've meant that maybe you've regretted it later, but obviously you didn't.

[Matthew Shute]

No worries. You're right, I don't regret it.

[MattHunX]

No worries. You're right, I don't regret it.

Good man!

Can I read it somewhere? I really need to buff my brain.