Sent
to The Star, Johannesburg, Wed 22/09/2010 18:08,
published without the parts in blue on 27 Sept 2010.
"The
Star" always gives the last word on religion to Bob Holcombe, making it
seem that there is no answer to his shallow arguments. Will Sol Makgabutlane be sufficiently unbiased
this time to break with tradition and publish my letter, as he has failed to do
on several previous occasions?
Bob Holcombe's letter (Sept 17) "God only
knows if there is life elsewhere" should not stand unchallenged.
He says that scientists are going beyond their
field. Not at all. Anything that can be objectively investigated
is the province of science. If it can't
be scientifically tested, it's speculation, superstition and nonsense. As is Religion.
Mr Holcombe talks of a
reason and a cause. This is typical
mumbo-jumbo. Things just are, they don't
need a reason and a cause.
If some god were the
creator, who created the god? If that
god was always there, why not cut out the middleman and accept that the
universe itself was always there? The
simpler explanation is the most likely, by Occam's Razor.
He says "God makes himself
approachable" –what, through a hundred different religions that contradict
each other and a Bible that contradicts itself?
And "God ... provided
a logical account of how it all started". Really? We know from previous letters that Mr Holcombe believes the Bible. Pity he appears not to have read it. If he had, he would know that the Biblical
account of Creation is both illogical and contradicted by observable facts. The universe clearly did NOT arise in six days
of 24 hours. A schoolchild can tell you
that day and night could not have existed before the sun.
