Sent
to The Star, Johannesburg, Sun 15/07/2012 12:34, published Tuesday
July 17 (minus the parts in blue) as
“Archaic logic makes little sense”. Dr
Levin’s original letter is below.
Sir
Amazing how even a
breakthrough like the discovery of the Higgs Boson can be spun in favour of
superstition by proponents like Dr A. M Levin (“Accept what we are meant to
know”, in The Star, Thursday July 12).
Contrary to what Dr
Levin may think, we know a considerable amount about the “how” of the universe:
Much more than was known by the authors of the bible.
As to “why” the
universe exits, it is a meaningless question, based on an assumption that there
must be a reason for everything. This sort of
thinking caused men to invent gods in the first place.
If we had meekly believed that we were “not meant to
know” things not “revealed” in scripture, we would still accept plagues and
natural disasters as punishments from the gods. Instead, vaccination and
weather forecasts save lives uncounted; billions
live longer, healthier and happier lives than ever before in history.
It is sad when
educated people like Dr Levin (who seems to be a
medical practitioner), in professions based on science, nevertheless try
to retard progress with outdated and discredited texts like the bible.
If Dr Levin wants
to quote Deuteronomy, would he also like us to not eat rabbit, pork or calamari
(Deuteronomy 14:7-10), or stone to death non-virgin brides (Deuteronomy
22:20-21), or make rape victims marry rapists (Deuteronomy 22:28-29), or
prevent banks charging interest (Deuteronomy 23:19)?
