In Reference to Travis Hardin’s article in the April issue.

I would like to address Travis Hardin’s comments on Christianity in the April Norbamensa newsletter. It gives 14 points about fascism, but Travis’ last line intimates that whoever believes in obeying a spiritual entity is irrational, uncaring about human welfare, and a fascist.

First, atheists like Travis should understand that many people and groups who call themselves "christian" are not Bible-believing Christians. No Bible-believing Christian would have instituted the Spanish Inquisition or the Salem witch trials. It is Allah who says "Kill anyone who won’t be Muslim", but it is Jesus who says "Love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you." Quite a difference.

As for "irrationality", Christians do NOT distain intellectuals and the arts. We believe that God gave every human whatever intellectual ability he or she may have, and the ability to create beautiful things. I just don’t call Maplethorpe’s "Cross in a Glass of Urine" art. Christianity and atheism must both be taken by faith, but I have experienced the biblical God’s love, mercy, provision, peace, and joy for 40 years in spite of difficult circumstances. Atheism cannot offer those.

As for caring about human welfare, it is the Bible-believing Christian who values human life, because before the earth came to be, God planned to send Jesus Christ to Earth to enable humans to have a relationship with Him. Bible-believing Christians believe that humans are human upon conception, but that atheist may say that since there is no God who loves humans and cares about them, " I will abort this baby-cancer growing in me because I want to look trim in my bathing suit on my summer vacation. This baby-cancer is just a blob of tissue. Not only will I abort it, I will let the doctor deliver it’s body and then take a tool and scramble it’s brains so that it will be brain-dead when it’s head is delivered. (Partial-birth Abortion.) That way my conscience will feel better." Bible-believing Christians believe purposeful abortion is murder, and yes, some of us are actually in the position to adopt children whose mothers decide to refrain from killing them.

(FYI: Over forty million Americans have been aborted - more than all the casualties in all our wars! I wonder which one would have found a cure for concer, or been another Einstein?)

In addition, it is the atheist who may say that old people and handicapped people should be killed because they may have some physical pain and unhappiness, and they can’t hold a job. One of the textbooks from which I was forced to study when I earned my Master’s Degree said "We become human upon socialization". However, we give birth to humans, not to puppies, and a monkey doesn’t become human just because it can hold a spoon. Bible-believing Christians give money and time to organizations that help the elderly and the handicapped.

As for patriotism, it is the atheist who may say he does not want his country to help oppressed people around the world. It is the Bible-believing Christian who is patriotic and proud of a country that would donate resources to help people who are being murdered by their governments because of their race or religion. Travis also claims the media are controlled by these irrational entity-obeyers (Christians). If that were true, our newspapers and television announcers WOULD report the beating, torturing, imprisonment, and murdering of people who are not part of their country’s main religion or race in Sudan, Korea, China, Iraq, and many other places around the world.

Rebecca Podolski