Atheists

Solar and water Re "Water's energy — and expense," Nov. 14 If much of the cost of bringing water to Southern California is in the expense of the electricity to operate the pumps in the aqueduct system, and most of those pumps are located in sunny desert locations, has anyone investigated the possibility of building solar power plants on site? The Solar Energy Generating Systems plants in the Mojave Desert produce electricity for more than 100,000 homes. They use concave mirrors to superheat oil that transfers energy to water, which runs turbine generators.

The effectiveness of the prayers indulged in by those quoted in "Keeping Faith" (June 5) seems to be part of the routine of ordering their lives rather than producing help from some Supreme Being. Even atheists like me have our secular rituals by which we get our days into order and to smooth out the chaos that we all meet. I do my morning face-washing and dog-feeding and gazing from out from my deck at the hills and valleys of Los Angeles, and then I'm ready for the day. KENNETH H. BONNELL Los Angeles

Don't bother wishing Dick Hogan a Merry Christmas. He considers it a holiday for the greedy, and he's hung a sign reading "Happy Winter Solstice, The REAL reason for the season" near a nativity scene outside the Parker County Courthouse. He got a permit for the sign as part of a settlement of a lawsuit he filed against the county challenging display of the religious scene on public property.

Italian atheists have lost a bid to run "no God" advertisements on city buses after strong opposition from conservative political parties, a member of the group said. The ads reading, "The bad news is that God doesn't exist. The good news is that you don't need him," were to have been put on buses in the northern city of Genoa, home to the Catholic cardinal who is head of the Italian Bishops Conference. A publicity agency changed its mind and said the ad could not run because it violated an ethics in advertising code, according to Giorgio Villella of The Italian Union of Atheists and Rationalist Agnostics.

The Boy Scouts of America, an organization once known mainly for welcoming boys to a world of adventure, self-sufficiency and good citizenship, now is more famous for the groups of people it bans: atheists, agnostics and homosexuals. It's been a sad evolution and an unnecessary one. The Girl Scouts, as well as international Scouting organizations, have carried out their similar missions without resorting to intolerance. By refusing once again this week to admit gay people to its ranks, either as Scouts or leaders, the Boy Scouts may have satisfied some of the religious organizations that sponsor many of its troops, but it risks long-term irrelevance.

The time for polite debate is over. Militant, atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the bestseller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers. Christopher Hitchens' book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" has sold briskly since it was published last month, and his debates with clergy are drawing crowds at every stop.

As the largest organization of American atheists, agnostics and other religious skeptics gathered in Los Angeles this weekend, there was a predictable amount of scorn heaped on Christians, Jews and Muslims. Religion was dismissed as "nonsense" and "superstition"; those who believe were described variously as "ignorant" and "stupid. " Fellow nonbelievers were not spared, however, as lines were drawn between "new atheists," who encourage open confrontation with the devout, and "accommodationists," who prefer a subtler, more tactical approach.

Citing December's dust-up between atheists and Christian groups over seasonal religious dioramas, the Santa Monica City Council has agreed to bar private, unattended displays in Palisades Park. After hearing emotional testimony from about 30 people, the panel voted 5 to 0 Tuesday night to eliminate an exception that had allowed churches, synagogues, atheists and others to erect displays at the public park and leave them unattended. Some council members said that, although they personally enjoyed seeing the displays, they wanted to head off increasingly rancorous confrontations over freedom of speech and religion that would cost the city time and money.

Atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who served in the Signal Corps during World War II, said today she is seeking membership for herself and other atheists in the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "Don't tell me there are no atheists in foxholes," she said. "I have a contingent of atheist veterans who want to get in (the VFW). The most important thing we're concerned about is that atheist veterans have been refused membership." O'Hair, 70, has written VFW officials in Kansas City, Mo., asking the organization to accept her and other atheists.

Tom Houg's Oct. 10 letter accuses atheists of having no "objective moral truth." Therefore, according to Houg, we are not able to condemn any acts of terrorism, since moral standards do not exist. In fact, quite the reverse is the case. Atheists recognize that existence itself is an absolute, and from existence itself we derive our moral standards. By contrast, since all believers envision God according to what they want him to be, belief in God is the ultimate moral variable. It is the theist, not the atheist, who cannot claim absolute moral standards in condemning terrorism.