IN answer to letters by Grenville Moore and Brian Smith on the subject of religion, I would say this.

Brian says that life is too complicated to have come about by chance, but that there must be a supreme intelligence involved. Not so. The evolution of life on earth in accordance with Darwin’s theory has now been traced in very great detail from the simplest single celled bacteria to the complex life forms we see today, and there is no sign of intervention by any outside intelligence.

Religious people have always denied the truth where it conflicts with their beliefs until the evidence becomes overwhelming. Remember the famous scientist who was imprisoned and tortured for daring to suggest the earth went around the sun, as just one example.

As for the bible, it is in fact nothing more than a collection of ancient myths and legends, without any supporting evidence from the historical records whatever. It has the same degree of credibility as the stories of the ancient Greek and Roman gods.

You say that no one has categorically disproved the bible. Of course they haven’t, because, as any student of logic will tell you, it is impossible to prove a negative.

Thus you can no more prove that God does not exist than you can prove there are no fairies at the bottom of your garden.

Of the two stories in the bible that are capable of disproof, namely the story of creation and the garden of Eden, and the story of Noah and his ark, these have in fact been comprehensively shown to be false. Brian Smith says that people have been “indoctrinated” by the evolution idea.

That is to turn reality on its head, for it is the creationists who have been indoctrinated, they who bury their heads in the sand and refuse to accept the truth.

To refer to evolution as “only a theory” is to grossly misinterpret the meaning of the word “theory”. It means “an explanation of”, as in the theory of relativity. The theory of evolution is in fact just about the most comprehensively proved theory in the whole field of science.

God was invented by man, and if you look more carefully, you will see that everything about religion is man-made, from the men in fancy, holy-looking clothes who enforce it, to the prayers and chants which are repeated over and over to maintain the process of indoctrination. But there is not a single supporting piece of evidence to support these beliefs. If there were such a being as God, all powerful, creator of all things etc. there would be absolutely no doubt of his existence.

David James
Bolton