Editor:
Having been accosted by two Mormon gentleman last week who attempted to enlighten me as to the Way, and then seeing the column from John Keisling ("God could exist despite no evidence," Nov. 1), I have a few words for the campus.
I do not subscribe to any particular form of religion, nor do I consider myself an atheist; in my opinion it is a personal journey every person makes and should not be limited by the convention of organized religion. If someone chooses to be a Catholic, or agnostic, it is their business. So I am not fingering any one particular group. My father has been a Lutheran minister for thirty years, and I respect his vocation objectively. Rather, my interest lies with Mr. Keisling's reasoning.
To begin with, the title of the column supposes much: "God could exist despite no evidence." This is indeed so. Many if not an infinite thing could be. It could even be that a deity might not exist even with evidence. It is not a given that evidence is true or real; it could easily be fabricated, or mostly true. If you grant the plausibility of the title proposed, then you also must grant that the converse is a possibility.
Mr. Keisling's article targets the idea that you cannot discount the possibility of "God" simply because you cannot see him; he gives us a scientific lesson to prove his point. What he fails to do though is specify which deity he is supporting, though, and most disagreements over this very tired issue seem to stem from one particular group taking a stand, and then an opposing group (which need not be atheists) disagreeing with the first. In short, by using the generic term "God" Mr. Keisling is much better able to posit the existence of a deity. There is no doubt in my mind that a deity might exist; perhaps the sun might go out tomorrow. It is not so much that the column is false, so much that it is poorly founded. Anything might be, but who knows, we may be wrong.
I am glad to read that Mr. Keisling prays nightly. If he's lucky, he may be forgiven for his column. But this could depend on if he truly believes in repentance. Who knows? I know I do not.
Martin Foerster
Psychology Senior