Letters: In the Dark Ages on atheism

Re “Court ruling backs atheist parolee,” Aug. 24

Did I read that right? State officials ordered an atheist parolee to enroll in a drug treatment program emphasizing belief in God or some “higher power”—and his refusal to abide such belief netted him 100 days in prison?

This travesty recalls Strother Martin’s prison warden character in “Cool Hand Luke,” when he harshly implored Paul Newman’s Luke to “get your mind right” to avoid further beatings.

For California to encourage mental reformation by threat of incarceration, rather than physical violence, is no less objectionable.

Discrimination against atheists is a Dark Ages holdover. How long must it persist in a country founded on freedom of religion?

Aaron Mills

Solano Beach

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