Religion

The great to-do in San Jose about the installation of the Quetzalcoatl sculpture (Nov. 27) is a great example of the ancient human failing of insisting on knowing what nobody really knows, i.e., is there or isn’t there something known as “God,” or “gods”?

For thousands of years countless societies from the most ancient to the contemporary have tried to credit--or blame--mythical, unprovable beings known as “gods” for the creation and operation of all that is in the universe. Each group arrogantly insists that its myth is the theologically correct myth and all others are false. Millions of people have killed and tortured each other in the name of their various “faiths.” (“Faith” means “I believe what I believe because I believe it. No proof or logic is needed.”)

“Homo sapiens” we call our species--it means “wise men.” If we really were, we would allow the “answer to it all” to remain a beautiful mystery and thankfully and peacefully enjoy it.

WALT HOPMANS

Santa Barbara