I wish to respond to Paul Bowers' two-part editorial about Christianity, "The Root of All Evil" and "Why I am a Christian." I think I speak for most atheists when I say that Christianity certainly is not the "root of all evil." No one specific thing can be diminished to the root of ALL evil, except maybe a lack of any effort to minimize harm to others on the part of an individual or group. It is this lack of concern for the well-being of others, superseded instead by quests for power and human ambition, which contributes to atrocities such as the Crusades. Regardless of an individual's religious orientation or atheism, no one is perfect. The question is: Does Christianity make being moral more or less possible? Even as 1 Corinthians 14:33 states that "God is not the author of confusion," Christians remain divided on most ethical dilemmas. You will find Christians and people of other faiths across the whole spectrum of possible stances on a range of issues, and all of them claim their stance is warranted by their version of divine instruction. The Ten Commandments provide less than satisfactory guidelines for morality, not caring to mention slavery, misogyny, rape or other abominations, while some merely exist to bolster the ego of an already omnipotent God. Surely God could have made a better list, or at least he could expand it. The result of all this is confused followers cherry-picking the Bible to fit independent biases or taking every iota into account, even the parts which are lamentable by today's standards. This is unnecessary. Paul is a great guy. I know many Christians, all of which are outstanding people. Though they claim religion informs their morality, I see something different. I see secular humanism. It is my hope that these good Christians will start giving credit where credit is due - themselves - while recognizing that most of the "good" is informed by genuine altruism and much of the opposition to progress in our world is influenced by religion.
- Andrew Cederdahl, president of Pastafarians at USC, second-year political science student
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