Insulting to atheists

I would like to respond to Matt Cowan's bizarre and insulting letter "Christianity doesn't need column to incite reaction," in which he relates Christianity and atheism to two bars of metal.

In Cowan's misguided argument, he claims the atheistic bar looks shiny on the outside, but only because it is a piece of lead covered in gold paint. "It looks appealing on the surface but is ugly underneath," he said. He then says, "the ugly Christian bar is revealed to be made of pure gold. The more it is cleaned and explored, the purer it is revealed to be."

Apart from being one of the most ridiculous analogies for religion I have ever heard, the argument is completely without substance. At no point does he offer any insight to why atheism is ugly or worse than Christianity — only that it is made of lead. Christianity, on the other hand, is a beautiful piece of gold. Why? Because the more it is explored, the purer it is revealed to be. That's it. That's his argument.

Cowan cannot honestly believe he does not provoke others after calling atheism "ugly."

Atheists comprise the last minority group in this country that remains open to unfettered ostracism and denigration. There exists no social taboo that protects them from unbridled ridicule and belittlement (case in point, Ann Coulter's latest book "Godless").

No one "explores" atheism with any intention other than the theory that God may not exist. There is nothing secretly buried underneath that isn't there at first sight — which is, as he puts it, "aesthetically pleasing."

The reason these discussions continue is because like many previous letters in The State News, Cowan's argument has no merit. Christianity is just better because it is. Just like "You gotta have faith," or "It's better to be safe than sorry."

Mark Adler
advertising senior
MSU