Kosko on Faith in the Public Realm
Bart Kosko’s Feb. 19 commentary, “The Problem With Faith-Based Funding Is Faith Itself,” is one-sided. He criticizes the belief in an afterlife beyond death. But he just affirms another faith, after condemning faith--that there is no life after death. He can no more prove that than the person who claims there is an afterlife.
His problem is that he believes that the scientific method of determining truth can be extended beyond science into religion and philosophy. These are entirely different realms.
JOHN A. WOODWARD III
Los Angeles
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Kosko concedes too much in his commentary on faith when he claims that scientists engage in faith provisionally. He correctly notes that confidence derives from testing, but hypothetical speculation involves no form of belief, not even faith. And having faith in “factual claims” is oxymoronic, as any claim that requires faith fails to deserve to be called factual. I echo Kosko’s call for the elevation of standards, including his.
JIM JOHNSON
Whittier
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Rarely does an argument against something so perfectly illustrate the need for it. Objecting to tax support for faith-based programs is one thing, but throwing out faith altogether is another. Get rid of faith as a resource in meeting our pressing social problems and what are we left with? Can science prove that broken or damaged lives are worth the trouble it takes to fix them? Hardly. If we wait for science to confirm religious convictions about the value of human existence, there won’t be any humans left to take care of, or to take care of us.
RICHARD RICE
Riverside
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Oh, my God (oops, sorry!), thank you for running Kosko’s commentary. I was truly beginning to believe I was the only living existentialist in America, or at the very least that it had long since gone out of vogue. I can’t believe that we even need to debate this issue at all. If, after a mere few weeks, we are heading down dangerous roads such as this one, I am frightened to think what the next four years will bring down upon us. Will articles such as Kosko’s even be allowed to be published?
TOM KAZAR
Pasadena
