Dear editor:
Response to Mr. Wiedmann (quoted):
"America was the result of people who thought hard and long to create a better world than the one history had been producing in the past." It was a better world for some, and was at the expense and destruction of others who were innocent.
"Reason and science were the elements which helped the 'new world' form a society which was a living, interacting system dependent upon the people themselves." Don't forget greed; and don't forget ethics and morality.
"America threw out the old systems of monarchy, aristocracy, theocracy and other systems which were not responsive to the will of its people." It established a republic, which also just as often isn't responsive to the will of some of its poorer people. (A king or a dictator who loves his people and does justice can respond much more quickly than a congress that fights itself.)
"To establish America, it took new ideas and hard work, but it was a chance for people to play a part in the decisions which would be the basis for a new form of governance." American inventiveness was such an excellent factor in its success; cruelty to the kidnapped has been a factor in its present difficulties.
"The Bible was not the central piece on which America was founded." That is so true! (Yet, it did have a major impact on ethics and morality among some.)
"Deism was the paramount religious thinking of the Founding Fathers." They held a number of divergent religions.
"And the ideas of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine represent how religion and society were understood." The majority didn't go along with them on religion, holding their own views instead.
"Read the ideas of Rousseau, Voltaire and other thinkers who affected the ideas in this Age of Enlightenment." This "Age of Enlightenment" certainly produced quite a few innocent victims. (Do minorities even exist in your mind? They don't in your writings.)
"I would also suggest reading through the entire Bible with a critical mind, and not just accepting passively ideas which were created by theocrats." That is an excellent idea! (Which ideas are by theocrats?)
"Thomas Paine felt that the new world needed to be responsive to reason and science if we were to have any chance at a fair and responsible world of people." "Fairness" doesn't exist on Earth. Responsibility makes for excellent relationships.
"If you have the time to read and reflect on the contents of the whole Bible and 'The Age of Reason,' I think then, and only then, can you decide which view makes more sense." If you don't, at least read and reflect on the Bible.
"The reasonableness of the people is the core of what America is about." Your ancestors were never slaves.
"We are a nation of people using our conscience and common sense abilities to decide together which road to follow." That explains drugs, futile wars, contempt for government, growing political hatred, and unkindness to sojourners of other cultures.
James Wilson
Hot Springs
Editorial on 09/15/2014