Debating God, goodness and terrorism

Re “Why God hates terrorists more than gamblers,” Current, Aug. 14

Dennis Prager says that if Jews, Christians and Muslims cannot see that killing in God’s name is a greater sin than most, they deserve the contempt the secular world already has for them. He says belief in God is the only hope for spreading goodness on Earth: “Without a God-based moral code, morality becomes a euphemism for personal preferences and humanity sinks into moral anarchy.” He just doesn’t get that the world over, without input from the gods, people have concluded that thou shall not murder, steal, bear false witness or covet.

Belief in God is not the beginning of righteousness; it is the source of self-righteousness and the justification for imposing one’s will on another. The terrorist isn’t doing evil in God’s name; he is doing God’s cleansing.

JAMES J. WAGNER

Cypress

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God loves everyone, including Dennis Prager, atheists, terrorists and gamblers, but not illogical absurdities.

LOUIS A. CHASE

Los Angeles