Offer proof, not faith in divine being

9/11/2007

In a Sept. 5 letter to the Readers' Forum headlined "Monotheism is logical but atheism is not," the writer appears to be of an opinion that would, if taken literally, stifle all scientific discovery and substitute a circular logic that defies reason.

Science constantly challenges its theories and revises itself. Theories regarding the existence, origin, and ultimate end of the universe are as varied as the monotheistic faiths on our planet. We now acknowledge that the world is round and revolves around the sun but that was considered heresy punishable by death at one time.

As a strong atheist, I accept a naturalistic, humanist view. There is no god. There is no proof supporting the existence of a god. The monotheist must offer proof, not faith or belief, for there to be a god, not the atheist.

It is not rational to place faith in a being no one has seen, that monitors individual behavior, and rewards or punishes that behavior. Is that being a god, or is it Santa Claus? Most of us gave up on the idea of Santa Claus in our youths because it was not rational. Such is the process of giving up the belief in a god later in life.

As to logic - if all monotheistic religions are true, and nonbelievers in each monotheistic religion are condemned to eternal punishment, then all monotheists are condemned to eternal punishment for their nonbelief in all other monotheistic religions. This is a standard "if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C" argument that is the basis for all logical and rational thinking.

I wish the writer all the luck in the world on that score.

John Swaile

Tulane Avenue

The Aug. 30 editorial regarding the reading habits (or the lack of reading habits) of the American public is disturbing, but Ohio public libraries are doing something about it. Circulation statistics are up, children and young adults continue to participate in summer reading programs, and our public libraries continue to work with schools, day care, and Head Start centers to expose children to reading at the very earliest age.

The Ohio Library Council, the State Library of Ohio, and Kent State University have created the Ohio Ready to Read initiative. The immediate goals of this initiative are that every Ohio library will have staff people trained in Ready to Read Basic Skills, every Ohio library director will be trained on Developing Community Partnerships to provide outreach services, and every Ohio library will have at least one staff person trained in New Story Time. Ready to Read will also incorporate assistance and resources from state agencies and other community partners to accomplish these goals.

Hopefully, with this initiative, Ohio public libraries will continue to do an even better job of helping to create a nation of readers rather than nonreaders.

Georgiana Huizenga

Director

The Harris-Elmore Public Library

With all of the new and renovated Toledo Public School buildings, there's one major thing I see missing: modern computers. The majority of the computers in the new buildings are seven or more years old. I don't understand how the district can have brand new buildings and consider them "state of the art" with these severely outdated machines.

One would think the district would take a leap into the future by furnishing their new buildings with state of the art technology. Sure, the district is buying projectors and interactive whiteboards, but what use do these have with old computers?

William J. Tapper

Ruthanne Drive

We know it's all about money: letting customers smoke in nonsmoking zones.

We know it's all about enabling: assisting the long and painful death of smokers through cancer.

We know it's all about morality: telling ourselves that we cannot be responsible for someone else's choice to smoke.

We know we always rationalize our immorality.

Barbara Rochelle

Sylvania Township

Tom Henry, in his Aug. 26 column, "Location is vital to plotting renewable energy strategy," illustrates the cost of not having a "renewable energy portfolio standard" in Ohio: manufacturing companies will go to states like Texas or Massachusetts that have such a standard.

Recently, the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force chose a manager to conduct a feasibility study on a demonstration project that comprises placing several wind turbines on Lake Erie near downtown Cleveland and building an affiliated research center.

In addition, Case Western Reserve University signed on to participate in the feasibility study and potentially manage the research center. We believe this demonstration project will blaze the trail for a new wind component manufacturing industry in northeast Ohio.

Advanced energy is the future, and much is at stake for Ohio. The federal government is considering capping CO2 emissions because we have put ourselves in a straightjacket by not diversifying our energy sources. We are hostages to foreign countries for our energy, we are heavily polluting the environment, and we are seeing home energy costs go up.

Ohio needs jobs badly, and we need to create them in an environmentally friendly way. The feasibility study will look at the ecological impacts of wind turbines on Lake Erie, including migratory flight patterns of birds.

We will be lobbying the Ohio state legislature to not only enact a renewable energy standard by January but also one that places priority on wind energy in Ohio. This is a crucial moment for Ohio. I believe it's a historic moment for northeast Ohio. And I believe Cleveland is a prime location to consider for wind energy development.

Bill Mason, chairman

Great Lakes Energy

Development Task Force

Cleveland

Jackman Road resurfacing. What a testament to the genius of city planners. They have had almost all of June, the entire month of July, and almost all of August, yet they began resurfacing Jackman between Eleanor and Sylvania avenues the same week Toledo Public Schools reopen. The entire section of road in front of Longfellow School is a mess with construction vehicles, through traffic, and parents trying to drop their kids off to school.

Not only is this an idiotic time to begin this work, it is unsafe. Young children walking home from school aren't wearing the bright green work vests. Who is going to see them if they walk behind a crane or a dump truck?

Brilliant, Toledo planners. What excellent foresight you have.

Nicole Vidak

Annabelle Drive

As a decorated World War II veteran, I signed up to fight for the freedoms we hold dear in this country. As a citizen, I am seeing Attorney General Marc Dann try to take these freedoms away by banning legal games like Tic-Tac-Fruit. This is big government run amok.

The government should not take away the games that my fellow veterans and I enjoy playing at our club.

Enough is enough, Mr. Dann. Leave the games alone.

George O. Ningard

Port Clinton

While I fully support our troops, I think it s time to get them back home. Too many lives have been lost. Wars should not last this long. Vietnam was our last multiyear war, and we lost.

When I drive my car, I m always looking to see what is going on at least three cars in front of me. When I look at Iraq, I think the driver was looking at the back bumper of the car in front of him.

MARK PAHL

Travis Drive