THE EDITOR, Sir:
GARTH RATTRAY, in The Gleaner of July 12, wrote an intriguing article entitled, 'Are we a Christian nation?' in which he said many a moving thing. Among them was his comparison of the high level of crime with the many churches. This, indeed, seems a paradox, a logical contradiction.
The most potent thing for me from the article was Rattray's 'proof for the existence of God'. As a medical doctor, even though he did not officially state the arguments, Dr. Rattray made some sound philosophical reasoning. This proves that some things are 'written upon the heart of Man'.
His first 'proof' of God was the 'existence of all around us'. The very fact that a person exists in functioning order is proof of God, he claims. In philosophy, we call this the 'argument by design'. It states that the very existence of the world is proof that there is a God who must have made all things because, obviously, no man could or can.
This also leads to another argument called 'The Ontological Argument' where God is seen as 'the only necessary Being that must exist to cause the existence of all other beings'. Therefore, the fact of our own existence becomes the very proof of God, who is the 'First Cause' for all other causes.
Dr. Rattray ends with the exhortation that we as a nation that seems so 'steeped in religion' should not tolerate the criminal elements among us. He says that the crime rate is proof that we are 'far from God'. Indeed, it seems Mr. Rattray is 'a man after my own heart'.
I am, etc.,
NICHOLAS ALEXANDER
nic7lex@hotmail.com
