OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : Atheist Student Is Calm and Courageous

That was a very fine and courageous essay by University High School student Ruth Murray (May 5) about her atheist beliefs. I’m sure that her beliefs are soon to be strengthened when she is subjected to the scorn and hatred that only self-righteous Christians can dish out.

One often wonders how the teachings of Jesus take such a back seat in modern-day Christianity while intolerance of others is always sitting in a pew right up front.

JAMES R. GALLAGHER

Huntington Beach

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From the midst of the ongoing raging debate over separation of church and state comes a calm voice of reason--the voice of a high school sophomore from Irvine. In the face of those who would condemn her atheism as amoral, Ruth Murray’s eloquent plea for tolerance and understanding points up the hypocrisy of a religious movement that seeks to legislate morality--always in the name of God and patriotism, of course.

As religious fanaticism gathers momentum and manifests itself in violent crimes such as murders in health clinics and terrorist bombings, is it any wonder that young people in search of truth might find atheism, or non-theism, to be a rational alternative?

During Easter week, Tom Brokaw reported on the “Nightly News” findings from recent research on the breakdown of religious affiliations in the U.S. population as a whole. As in other polls taken in the past, it was revealed that although there are more Christians in this country than members of any other sect, the majority of Americans belong to no church at all.

I would like to thank Ms. Murray for her courage in “coming out.”

VALERIE BEHMERWOHLD

San Juan Capistrano