Letters to the Editor: Atheists and agnostics coped with the pandemic too. Let’s hear from them

To the editor: The article, “Renewing faith, or losing it, in the time of COVID-19,” only focused on how followers of faith-based belief systems are coping with the pandemic.

Dealing with society-wide dangers to public health in a meaningful way is not the exclusive preserve of people who believe in a deity or some higher power. A major newspaper should be equally concerned with chronicling how those of us on no spiritual path are responding to the challenges wrought by the virus.

It’s just as important to publish front-page descriptions of how atheists who see the universe as natural, with no supernatural beings, apply evidence, philosophy and science in navigating such a severe and lengthy threat to our global and national well-being.

There is no reasonable basis for the unreflective, automatic presumption that it’s more noble to respond to life’s ordeals with beliefs in supernatural assistance than it is to face such harsh realities with real-world grit and ingenuity.

Edward Tabash, Los Angeles

The writer chairs the Center for Inquiry board of directors.

..

To the editor: I very much disagree with the article’s assertion, “The last two years have transformed the stability of our ... collective understanding of science.” My belief is that, pre-COVID, we as a society did not at all realize the degree to which too many Americans do not understand or respect science and scientific research.

As for the people who were profiled in this article, it’s unfortunate that those who judged them were, at least superficially, wearing mantles of religion. If religion does not teach tolerance and forgiveness, what is its value in any society?

Ronel Quinn Kelmen, El Segundo