Atheism, Drudgery and Accentuating the Negative
The Aug. 16 magazine seemed to have a theme. Was it intentional? It’s hard to believe that you randomly gathered all that nilhilism and despair by chance.
First, Patt Morrison, one of my idols, describes closing her mind to Moses and the whole Bible on the basis of skepticism on the parting of the Red Sea (“Seeking the Truth, but Not on His Knees,” SoCal P.O.V.). For someone as bright as Morrison, it’s a shame she has missed so much because she never considered that the Bible might be crammed with metaphor.
Then there’s Matt Drudge, proud of dissing everything but his own views of education and responsible journalism--all for the sake of shoring up his own scary ego (“The Man Whose Mouse Roars,” by Janet Wiscombe). And to top it off, the Ayn Rand clique, not satisfied to bring their own limited views to the world, happily close their children off from their own needs--to embrace the world and its people--to indoctrinate them in self-interest (“Preserving the Fountainhead,” by Michael J. Ybarra).
I’m neither a right-wing Christian nor a fiery believer in any doctrine, so I’m not judging this from a religious standpoint. Nevertheless, you really hit a new low with this issue full of despairing beliefs
Ann Bien
Anaheim
*
I don’t understand the hoopla about Matt Drudge. I always feel shame when one of the dumbest members of our generation (I am 28) achieves notoriety and fortune by the most Machiavellian means (while giving lip service to hard work). Drudge’s greatest claim to fame has been exposing “Clinterngate”--breaking part of a muckraking story that has no influence whatever on the process of governing.
Regarding Randians, they have always come off as selfish people, eager to use eloquently rendered pop psychology to justify their egocentric, petty existence. Ybarra’s article did much to bolster this notion.
Committee for Moral Defense of Microsoft? Are these people deranged? Have they no clue as to how ruthlessly Microsoft has behaved? Has reality no place in a Randian world? I never thought so, and Rand’s disciples seem hellbent on proving me correct.
Payam Minoofar
Los Angeles
*
What a depressing magazine! A Clinton hater and his friends, an avowed atheist, and the cult following of a Russian immigrant who sold “objectivism” as a way of life.
Rose Jacobs
Oceanside
* Susan Estrich may be clever enough to separate Drudge’s wheat from his chaff, but plenty of us aren’t. This spoiled adolescent hasn’t learned right from wrong yet. He should be sent either to camp or to jail.
Allan Rabinowitz
Los Angeles
*
Principles do matter. Ayn Rand opposed the principle of altruism because, rather than encouraging kindness, good will or respect for the rights of others, it actually produces the opposite effect--tyranny--via the ethos of self-denial and servile devotion to and veneration of political authority.
Randians and Libertarians decried Bill Clinton’s “volunteerism” summit because it was a cloying, cynical charade designed to soften up Americans for the next round of compulsory altruism.
Nicholas Eric Spinner
*
In “Seeking the Truth, but Not on His Knees,” Patt Morrison says her Sunday school education ended upon hearing that Moses parted the Red Sea, and that “a more logical explanation might be low tide.”
As a Christian with the heart of a scientist, I have no problem with this rationale. But taking the story to its end, the fact that the entire Egyptian army (fit, able-bodied and elite) drowned in six inches of water is still a borderline miracle in my book.
Jean Marsh
Corona
*
I compliment the magazine and The Times for giving Jon Nelson, an atheist, a chance to be heard.
Donald E. Olson
Newport Beach