The next frontier (1)

Once again I find myself in a position to correct and right misguided understandings, definitions and comments by certain people such as John B. Pace (Fanatical Form Of Atheism, December 23).

Science digs deeper until a result is found...- Ian J. Grech, Marsascala

Atheism is not a faith and I can assure Mr Pace that there is no orchestrated campaign in progress to “convert” anyone. Speaking out only has the purpose of presenting the audience with an alternative to what the Catholic Church has been drumming for the past two millennia.

It is not asking people to “wear intellectual blinkers” but to open their eyes wider. I admit it must be hard and scary for the Church and its members to hear another voice in their auditorium, more so when it is a voice which can present a good clear case without the supernatural. They must really miss the Inquisition.

Mr Pace is right in stating that scientific research is showing and proving “the existence of many things we did not know existed”. That is the purpose of science. But science does not stop at the first lack of understanding hurdle, attributing to the creator entity what lies beyond. It digs deeper until a suitable result is found which will raise more questions. If science at any one point stops in its tracks humanity is doomed. Science is what moved humanity out of the caves.

Religion on the other hand presents a one-size fits all answer to life, the universe and everything and would gladly have kept us hunter gatherers lest the one-size be displeased. Science is not what started the Crusades or flew an aircraft into the World Trade Centres. I wonder if Mr Pace and his fellow believers ever think of all the teachings, discoveries and theories lost because the Church prohibited their publication and/or propagation, and how these could have impacted the lives of millions of people.

Lastly, if Mr Pace believes in a chaotic universe I recommend he pick up a good cosmology book and read it through. There I can guarantee he will find a picture of organised complexity which, given ideal conditions, gives rise to life. Chemistry and physics at work do not imply anything but that chemistry and physics work. As stated above, wherever there is lack of knowledge in the processes, it is not a limit of science (and the start of religion) but the next frontier. No god required.

This is not fanatical atheism. This is a reply to a fanatical letter.