Brandon still has his life. He threw a lot of that away when he chose to kill Lawrence. The homosexual panic defense is indefensible.

Society threw both of these young lives away by letting homophobic violence go on for too long. You can object to someone being gay all you like but your right to object stops where the other persons right to live begins.

Hello Patty
As an atheist I thank you for the article and would like to comment specifically on your question: So what’s the atheist agenda? Are they out to control the country? Remove “In God We Trust” from the dollar bill? Make churches pay taxes?

Atheists and humanists don’t have an agenda in that sense, and certainly not to control the country - we surely couldn’t even agree among ourselves what that might mean or entail! As an atheist I support those who, as you indicated for yourself “….my faith gives me comfort and provides meaning for my life…”, and I have several friends and family members who hold that perspective. The fact is that we all hold beliefs that are important to our personal perspective on where we stand in the universe, and no-one has the right to try to take that away.

Thus, at its purest, there would be little difference between an atheist, a follower of Zoroastra, Apollo or Zeus, or a Christian, Jew or Moslem - except for one thing. That one thing is that the Judeo-Christian tradition alone has developed a set of ideologies and doctrines that attempt to control the lives of others in accord with their interpretations of their God’s wishes; indeed they would wish that I might follow their example - and despite major differences, each sect believes that it alone propagates God’s will! So it is the ideologies and doctrines, not the core belief, that we wish to hold up to the light of day for all to examine - but, of course, religion must never be questioned, and certainly never must it be justified! It’s instructive to note that all three Judeo-Christian traditions have been developed by the male of the species, and their traditions show that, although currently none so clearly as the almost woman-hating theology of Islam - and while one may say that it exemplifies only extreme Islam, it should be noted that the “moderates” don’t often take time to deny that extremism!

So now, if we have an agenda, it is that we - atheists and humanists - perceive that the only way in which humans can fulfill both personal and community needs and desires is by honestly and rationally analyzing the steps that we make rather than submitting to a male-driven ideology. Therefore, we perceive that human progress and fulfillment can only occur through an honest and rational approach to life and life’s works, knowing that we don’t know (as in ideology) and that we are subject to questioning, experimentation and learning. Thus, we hold nothing sacrosanct as an ideology, while we do hold life in all its forms and human fulfillment, equality, rights and enjoyment as sacrosanct. For example, the Catholic church bans contraception and states categorically that sex is only for procreation - but these mandates are imposed by a group of sex-starved old men (and who knows what impulses and consequent guilt arises from that unnatural deprivation?) without foundation in the bible in any rational form. I have visited the over-populated and Catholic Philippines on several occasions and when you see the streets thronging with kids it doesn’t take too much effort to realize that even if the Government wasn’t corrupt, no economy could possibly support the annual intake of young hopeful workers. By any rational thinking, the single most significant positive step for the population of Philippinos would be for the Catholic church to embrace contraception with responsible parenthood - but Papal ideology kills that stone dead. In an atheistic or humanistic environment, contraception and responsible parenthood, not simply children for the sake of it, would be taught and encouraged (not mandated, by the way - we’re not into coercion).

Let me also turn to another question that you raised - “So I was curious to know where atheists find meaning in their lives”. Actually, I’d like in this context to return to your personal comment and ask you a question. You said “….my faith gives me comfort and provides meaning for my life…” Quite honestly, I have never understood what Christians mean about providing meaning because I see them behaving exactly as secularists with the similar human values, interests, concerns, worries, gossiping, back-biting, fight for survival, preoccupations etc, and I’ve never yet discerned a different meaning to life from mine. It is true that they believe their lives should be guided by God, and that there is an afterlife, but I’ve observed no more in terms of meaning than in agnostics, atheists, humanists or rednecks. So, perhaps you might enlighten me what I might be missing in terms of …the meaning of life… since I’m an atheist. I’m open to the possibility of learning something, but quite honestly, so far no christian has been able to give me a solid answer to that question.

But, since you ask where atheists find their meaning I can tell you that the simple answer is “within” and moreover, I propose that the answer is the same for all persons. Much of my life was spent in preparing for adulthood, and then living it with a family for which I needed to work, just as you do at the Mercury News - in essence, that means survival is the first thing, which is why most parents regard school followed by university as their first preoccupation for their children. Meaning for me came out of those needs and the family that I had to prepare for their own lives. I also found meaning in my vocations which included politics and running to be a member of Britain’s Parliament - I don’t mean to make that sound significant, but simply that part of my fulfillment as a human was in politics, while others find it in arts, intellectual activities, social, religious and outdoor activities etc. Now that I’m retired I find meaning in spending time with my family (in fact, as I write this, I am in England with my married daughter and her family as well as my brother and sister) and in following my interests in environmental activism, writing, philosophy, photography, birding, hiking, biking etc. I would gently submit to you that my life is as full with meaning as anybody who proclaims a belief in God - indeed, is identical in concept while different in detail.

That’s probably more than enough, so I will conclude by thanking you for offering to keep us in your prayers, but gently tell you that when I occasionally visit Mission Santa Clara (I love their music) and I hear them (and presumably up to a billion Catholics or their leaders around the planet) asking for “peace among nations” and “national leaders to show wisdom” I wonder every time - isn’t someone actually thinking here about prayer versus response and what that says about “God”……………

Best wishes,

Barry Boulton

An Obituary printed in the London Times:
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault..

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their 20 victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone!

I do know that people use guns to commit many and heinous crimes. I also know, and if you like I shall research and provide evidence, that people also use guns to protect themselves and their families against criminals.

Finally, from observing nature I know that all species have techniques or technologies to survive. Indeed, animals must often fight for their lives.

Without even touching the Bill of Rights, therefore, I can state that we have a natural right to defend ourselves. I hope you agree.

Following from this, it remains only to find the most effective defence weapon, and to recommend it. Unfortunately - and I mean that sincerely, for I wish we had some sort of stun gun or “phaser” as in Star Trek, rather than these bloody archaic hand cannons- unfortunately we find that firearms, guns, are still the state of the art in self defense.

Therefore guns must be available to the law-abiding citizenry, because they are very available to the non-law-abiding. To put it simply, we need guns because they have them.

The only situation I can imagine, which would allow a rational and ethical ban on guns, would be the complete absence of violent crime in society. At that point, there could be no need for self defence.

Unless and until such a crime-free society exists, we law-abiding citizens have a natural right to own and properly use firearms.

Hoping that this letter finds you in good health,
John

It has been common among religious believers to look with misgiving to atheists and Gnostics, and to think that they are mistaken; however, in many instances the opposite is the truth; some religious beliefs are not just irrelevant, but baseless. The “God” of main line traditions simply does not exist. I accepted the challenge of finding the One who may be recognized even by Gnostics and atheists: the Existence itself, “All-That-Is.” If something is there, that is God. Look at the book “Christianity Reformed From ist Roots - A life centered in God” (Amazon.com). I am confident that some of your friends will be relieved of the illusion, as I did myself.

Jairo Mejia, M. Psych., Santa Clara University
Retired Episcopal Priest
Carmel Valley, California

http://www.mbay.net/~jmejia/Grudzen.htm
http://www.mbay.net/~jmejia/Churcher.htm

I assume it’s a momentary lapse of conciousness and not ignorance.
Please note Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland is still the Queen of Canada.
You are probably not aware, but Canada became a Dominion within the British Empire and later a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Thank you.