Atheists

Would you have published an essay that ended with the sentence, “A person of white skin color is more likely to show compassion”? How about, “Native-born Americans are more likely to show compassion”? Of course not. Then why did you publish “Finding Morality in the Line of Fire” (Commentary, Feb. 7) by Jerome Costello, which ended with the equally idiotic, “A person of faith is more likely to show compassion”? What is his evidence? The great majority of the Germans, Austrians and Italians who carried out Hitler’s Final Solution were Christian.

I am an atheist, as are 10% of Americans. I do not believe that I can hurt another human being and then be magically forgiven. Perhaps if Costello, in his position as senior chaplain of the Rampart Division, had espoused humanism and responsibility instead of supernatural mumbo jumbo, fewer innocent men would have been jailed for crimes they did not commit, and the citizens of Los Angeles would not now be facing the cost of millions of dollars in lawsuits.

STEVEN MORRIS

Torrance