In December, a couple of letters to the editor mentioned two legally recognized atheistic religions: scientology and humanism. If a religion can be atheistic, then what is meant by religion? This problem of understanding words perplexed Socrates.
The growing confusion we find as we examine things closely is seen in physics, where we go from the determined universe of Newton to the undetermined one of quantum physics.
Consider the mathematical concept of the real number line. The line is an infinite sequence of points, and between any two points there is an infinite sequence of points. The concept implies that any segment of the line is equal in length to the entire line. It also implies that no point on the line can be next to another point. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
We keep trying to pin nature down, but it keeps oozing away. Because of this, a ban on the teaching of intelligent design is to make a legal decision on matters beyond the scope of human understanding.
Donald E. Corder
Baxter Springs, Kan.
