Letter to the editor:

Human qualities

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Bob Hannah, Henderson

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

David Brooks’ Wednesday column shunts us off into a parallel universe where religion and theology are separate entities, and scientists with mystical leanings are a threat to religion but somehow enhance theology.

Of course, theology must be unassailable since, as Mr. Brooks states, the “faithful” had such an easy time defending God against Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Cue the “Twilight Zone” theme, please!

Returning to Earth, however, we find that regardless of how mysteriously dynamic the human brain is or how many common moral intuitions the world’s people may share or how many “elevated” experiences they have or how many boundaries they may “overflow with love” or how many Buddhist scientists there are, not one of these things is evidence of or a logical argument for the existence of a god or gods.

Meanwhile, the “faithful” are indeed faced with a scientific revolution, as Mr. Brooks says, but not one with organ chords swelling in the background. As more real learning takes place, assumptions and traditions about the “unknowable,” whether specific or general, will fall away like scales from their eyes. That’s where this debate is really headed.