To the Editor:54bet

Re “How to Choose a Religion,” by Ross Douthat (column, Feb. 2):

The one question that Mr. Douthat leaves unanswered: “Why make the journey at all?”

If the reason is that believing in God supposedly makes one a better person, I’ve seen enough of people who profess a belief in Jesus to know that it ain’t necessarily so. And if you do seek out religion, which God do you choose? The God (favored by the deists) who created the universe and then stepped aside to watch silently as we humans made a mess of things? Or a personal God whom we ask to answer our prayers, but who usually doesn’t?

I think it is possible to use the Sermon on the Mount as a template for living a good life without necessarily believing that Jesus was divine: Be kind, be compassionate, do good deeds and if there is a God hopefully you’ll be rewarded in the end. And if there isn’t, you’ve lived a good life,betef.com haven’t you?

John J. ConiglioEast Meadow, N.Y.

To the Editor:

As an agnostic with atheist tendencies, I find that there are lots of advantages to not having a formal religion. No threats of afterlife eternal punishments; no getting up early to attend a religious ceremony; no dietary restrictions other than those for health reasons; no fasting either.

Disciplinary proceedings against Dr. Wax tested the tenure protections of professors and whether such protections allow them to voice opinions that many might find inappropriate or downright insulting. Many students said that they could not trust Dr. Wax to grade students without bias. But many professors — even those who found her comments profoundly racist — objected to disciplining her on the grounds of academic freedom.

The accountability office said many of those systems “have critical operational impacts” on air traffic safety and efficiency. Many of them are also facing “challenges that are historically problematic for aging systems,” according to the report.

What then are the advantages of religion? Trying to persuade its believers to live moral lives (see the Ten Commandments) is religion’s most valuable lesson, but the Golden Rule is a good one to follow as well, without all the other trappings.

The one huge disadvantage of atheism: no holidays. No celebrations, no days off for religious obligations. Every silver lining has a cloud.

Irene Bernstein-PechmèzeStamford, Conn.

To the Editor:

Ross Douthat wisely reminds us that “the ultimate goal of the sincere religious quest is a relationship or an experience of grace that can’t be obtained through reasoning alone.”

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