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Ludwick logic faulty

To the editor,

After reading Rachael Ludwick's letter "Good reasons for leaving church" today in the Wildcat, I feel obliged to point out several facts that she has overlooked in her analysis. While I am an agnostic myself and have no idea whether or not God truly exists, I cannot stand the use of faulty logic and must therefore proceed in my rebuttal.

First of all I must take issue with Ludwick's statement that "it is not logic and reason that leads someone to believe in (God)." Perhaps Ms. Ludwick is not aware that for millennia some of the greatest philosophers the world has ever known have devised numerous logical arguments for the existence of God that are still being discussed today. Whether or not you believe these arguments is up to you, but they cannot simply be dismissed out of hand without some argument that points out a flaw in their logic. Ludwick provides no such argument in her letter, so why should her ideas be taken seriously?

Secondly, Ludwick claims that "to just 'take it on faith' is to discount that means of knowledge as useless." I am assuming that the "means of knowledge" Ludwick is referring to is science and that Ludwick is claiming that if an idea (such as God) with no scientific basis is taken as true, science must be thrown out the proverbial window. However, in order for one to place trust in science, to think that it is a pursuit that can actually uncover universal truths, there are certain assumptions that one must make about the nature of existence and the universe in general. Clearly, these assumptions cannot be proven correct by science, for the validity of science depends upon their correctness! Shall we then throw these beliefs out the window as well because "no scientific statement could be made" about them? As you can see, this line of thinking leads to a paradox and, hence, must be abandoned.

In truth, the entire matter boils down to the fact that belief in the validity of science is as arbitrary as any belief in God. It all depends upon one's ontological view of the universe, which, along with all other metaphysical ideas, cannot be proven true or false by definition. Believe what you will on this issue Ms. Ludwick, but do not claim that it is illogical (and therefore foolish) for others to believe differently.

Martin Short

Engineering/physics junior