Gary Fogg raises some interesting points in his recent piece, “The Three Main Faults of Religion” (The Times Record, Jan. 14), in which he maintains that “good judgement based on knowledge, not fantasy, is a more compassionate approach to life,” that believers are “unable to identify problems accurately or develop solutions that work in the real world,” that “religious teaching is almost always based on narrow minded visions” and that “the sacred texts of most religions view unbelievers, apostates and reformers as immoral persons who should be viewed with suspicion.”

The fact that God is not observable does not mean that God does not exist. Those of us who believe hardly view the Creator as a “fantasy” but as a source of wisdom demanding careful attention and are convinced that if humans made a serious attempt to follow his commands, the world would be a better place. We reject those who twist religion to serve themselves and bring it into disrepute.

Declaring that those who believe in God are “unable … to develop solutions that work in the real world” is a claim without merit. It wasn’t secular good judgement that responded to hunger and homelessness in Brunswick, for example, but church members whose faith led to the creation of the Tedford Shelter, the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program and The Gathering Place, a daytime drop in center for the homeless and others. Religious education took these church members far beyond their own interests to serve the needs of others in a way that was anything but narrow minded and which works exceptionally well in the real world.

As for his sweeping statement that unbelievers and others are suspect and immoral, well, as my father used to say, “name six.” It’s certainly not the attitude of any local church leader I know. All welcome dialogue with such individuals as both a challenge and an opportunity. And, by the way, who in their right mind would hold Pope Francis guilty of such views?

Religion may at times be its own worst enemy, but it’s a human endeavor that doesn’t always play out as it should. Consider it “operator error” rather than some inherent defect. Instead of attacking its flaws, critics should look to its potential for good. It was God, after all, the so-called “punishing” God of Israel, who ordered the Prophet Zechariah to tell the people of Jerusalem, “See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another. Don’t mistreat widows or orphans or foreigners or anyone who is poor and stop making plans to hurt each other.” In other words, love your neighbor.

For those of us who believe, this is the only sure path to peace in this warravaged world.

Arnie Besier,
Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church and
St. Charles Borromeo
Roman Catholic Church
Harpswell