Letters to the Editor: Pondering God, atheism and a universe existing instead of nothing
To the editor: Great article by reporter Deborah Netburn on the subject of God and the universe. In the opening paragraphs of her excellent column, she brought up the ultimate riddle that I have been grappling with for the past decade: “Why are we here? Why are any of us here? Why does the universe exist instead of nothing?”
Several years ago I came across what seemed to be a rather innocuous quote by the great 17th century German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: “Why is there something rather than nothing?”
At the time, that question didn’t strike me as all that profound or interesting. Since then, I have reflected on that simple question and have concluded that it’s one of the most interesting and profound questions ever posed.
No matter how hard I try to imagine there being nothing, I can’t. Something always gets in the way.
Fred Gober, Playa Vista
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To the editor: We live on a very small planet that appears to be dying. In order to slow or curtail that death, everyone on it needs to learn to get along and find ways to stop killing our Earth.
However, there are so many different kinds of people and therefore divisions on this planet, creating an inability to get along. Do we need various religions to add to that mix of divisions?
As a devout atheist, I wonder about a world without religion and at least one fewer (major) division.
Tony Foster, Oceanside
