Random Thoughts

I read the article entitled Kerry's 'flip-flopping' a sign of modern thinking in the University of Delaware Review, which you can read at the link above. I couldn't believe what the guest columnist wrote about how being a born-again Christian makes you weak in character and intellect, so I wrote and sent in a letter to the editor. Hopefully it will be published--until then, the text is below:

I am writing in response to Tyler Akin's guest editorial Kerry's 'flip-flopping' a sign of modern thinking. I have no problem with criticism of politicians when it comes to their actions or stance on issues. However, he does not really criticize President Bush on the issues, instead he criticizes his religious and moral beliefs as a "born-again" Christian. Mr. Akin stated "I shall not argue against the moral foundation provided by Christianty...." Yet, he must think it is okay to bash Christianity because he goes on saying that Christianity has been "bastardized by a millennia of misinterpretation and opportunism". He calls President Bush weak of character and intellect because of his beliefs. Now, I doubt Mr. Akin would have criticized a Jewish or Muslim politician for their religious beliefs. What about George Washington, our first president who said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible". Does Mr. Akin think that President Washington was weak in character?

It would seem from Mr. Akin's article that if you are intelligent you could not be a Christian, since that would imply being "indoctrinated" into a belief system doesn't allow one to learn from mistakes. Well, I can think of a number of famous intelligent people, who learned much about the "complexities of the world" and were Christians. How about Sir Isaac Newton, who wrote just as much (if not more) about religion as he did about science. How about Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Lord Kelvin, and George Washington Carver? There is also Francis Collins, a self professed born-again Christian, who is the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and oversaw the human genome project in the United States.

Mr. Akin, you applaud John Kerry for being a flip-flopper, yet call George Bush the ultimate flip-flopper--because of his faith. I think that you need to reconsider your logic and recognize the invaluable contributions of Christians to this great country and the world.