Letter: Reader forgives Michael Polito

I am a Christian and a Roman Catholic who has been raised by the greatest Roman Catholics I know.

Because of the way I was raised and what I have been taught, I choose to forgive Michael Polito, Ph.D., for his hateful and hate-filled letter to the editor Sept. 8, “Religion is an outdated myth.”

Janet (Lorio) Kliebert

homemaker

Prairieville

Comments

1) Comment by prbeav - 14/09/2012

@Phil: after each post you might reflect on a George Carlin quote, "The reason I talk to myself is that I'm the only one whose answers I accept."

2) Comment by prbeav - 14/09/2012

CBCS, You are taking a hedge bet I would not take. Which God? I admit to myself I do not know and am prepared for my death, whenever it comes.

3) Comment by DMJ - 14/09/2012

I know a couple of atheists that were in combat. They're still atheists. In fact, there's even an organization founded by such brave men and women. Check out militaryatheists.org Besides, people aren't at their most rational when mortars are raining down upon them, I'd suspect.

4) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 14/09/2012

CBCS, the old foxhole lie. I know quite a few combat vets who are atheists, my husband being one of them.

5) Comment by CountryBoysCanSurvive - 14/09/2012

In no way did I mean to indicate that believing was like a hedge bet. My thought was, like what have you got to lose? Belief and faith go hand in hand. My message was to the atheists. There are no atheists in foxholes. Well at least y'all didn't call me a racist. (yet)

6) Comment by Bighug - 14/09/2012

I would be satisfied if religious people would just leave me alone, phil. As for so many comments on a short letter, it seems there is open season on anyone who professes to hold no belief in a god, but don't dare say anything about someone who does.

7) Comment by phil - 13/09/2012

Gee a lot of negative responses to a relatively short letter that contained only about 60 words total. I guess if you can't take the heat of this short letter, maybe you need to get out of the religion kitchen.

8) Comment by potkcalb - 13/09/2012

I've got to stop repeating myself, fearing that I've become a bore. But religion is solely a personal and private matter, the province of the individual, the family, the home, the church, the religious denomination school, the private school if so elected. That should satisfy everyone.

9) Comment by Bouncer - 13/09/2012

Thanks prbeav and everyone else for the nice words. One of the hardest things in life can be making oneself understood. My intent is not to step on anyone's toes. It's simply that religion, faith, belief, call it what you will, has always seemed to me to be something that is intensely personal and private. One's profession of a creed or one's belief in a god should not be used as a means to shame or humiliate, nor should it be used as a cudgel to bludgeon someone into submission. It most certainly should not be used as a platform that one mounts in order to publicly showcase one's self-image as dwelling on higher moral ground than the non-believer, nor should it be a license to circuitously denounce others while proclaiming oneself "special" because of one's religious beliefs. On the contrary, I think of a true "Christian" as being the exact opposite of the sort of gaudy, tacky, unrestrained, look-at-me-I'm-special spiritual egotism shown by this letter. I am confident that if there is a god, it has wept many a tear of anger, frustration, and sorrow over how its creations have perverted the essence of its message and how they have treated one another in its name.

10) Comment by prbeav - 13/09/2012

Bouncer, you express yourself so well. You shame my wordiness. I wish you would review the 181comments on Michael Polito's letter and comment. Or just comment on his letter. It is still alive; just go to "opinion" and scroll down till you find it.

11) Comment by DMJ - 13/09/2012

Agreed, Bouncer. The tone of this letter was very condescending. How very un-Christian of her...

12) Comment by Bouncer - 13/09/2012

At the end of the day, I don't really care what anyone believes or does not believe in. All that I am saying is that "Christians" such as the author of the letter find views such as Mr. Polito's offensive, yet they seem utterly incapable of seeing how offensive it is to others for them to billboard their religious faith and on the basis of embracing that faith, implicitly claim "moral superiority" over those whose views are different from theirs. It's the showy public declarations such as the one exemplified by this letter that I find objectionable. I feel the same about vulgar public displays of any religious faith, no matter what it is. It is extremely presumptuous, offensively condescending, and egotistical of the author to "forgive" Mr. Polito, who has done her no wrong. If there is a god that she believes in, then it is that god's place to "forgive" Mr. Polito. She has overstepped her authority as a mere mortal in stooping to "forgive" someone for his not sharing her religious beliefs.

13) Comment by DMJ - 13/09/2012

I had a thought about the whole Jesus coming back to earth thing (for a 3rd time, if you're Mormon)....Let's say Jesus comes back but he doesn't perform any miracles or anything. Who among you would believe him? Anyone? Honestly? What would stop you from simply assuming he's a wacko, David Koresch-type guy? I'd imagine Christians would be the most hostile to someone they'd consider an imposter, right? Or....let's say that when he comes back, he DOES perform miracles. In this scenario, it wouldn't take the slightest bit of faith to believe in him. Heck, if I saw a guy turn water into wine or walk across the top of the MS River, I'd be a believer too! In this case, faith would be meaningless because it would be overtaken by proof. Or...and I'm thinking outside the box here....let's say he does come back but he said his name is Mohammed and that all Christians and Jews were wrong the whole time....would you convert to Islam to avoid Hell? And if you only converted because you had been shown the error of your ways, would it even count, considering it wasn't based on faith? Or what if it was just a test, to see if you stay true to your Christian faith? Or....what if it wasn't?? What am I missing? How is this 2nd coming supposed to go down?

14) Comment by potkcalb - 13/09/2012

If there was a "God" CountryBoysCanSurvive don't you think that it would recognize the hypocrisy of saying that one believes just to be on the safe side.There might be a down side to trying to fool this "God."

15) Comment by Whatnow - 13/09/2012

@CBCS, salvation is not a bargaining chip. Ms. Jan, I appreciate your letter. I thought the same thing about Mr. Polito's letter. But, you have to take letter's like his with a grain of salt. The atheists of this world are feeling threatened by something they will never understand. Otherwise they wouldn't protest so much. Human logic can analyze anything to death, but they cannot analyze our faith. They can call us names, call faith delusional, but we only have answer to our God, not to man. Keep the Faith, Ms. Jan.

16) Comment by prbeav - 13/09/2012

Anyone who falls prey to Pascal's wager places themselves in extra jeopardy. Accepting the wager requires one to profess belief in God. However, if there is a god, the believer in not very likely to make the right choice, and thus will suffer his folly.>>I say "extra" because any worthwhile god knows believers' motives and metes out contempt when it is due.

17) Comment by DMJ - 13/09/2012

I hate to break it to you, Janet....but Mr. Polito doesn't seek your forgiveness. Therein lies one of the fundamental flaws within Christianity...it's more about making oneself feel better than it is about helping others. This letter is an exercise in narcissism, nothing more.

18) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 13/09/2012

CBCS just proved what I have always known. The ignorant choose religion to hedge their bets, just in case heaven may exist. They don't choose religion to learn and make the world a better place.

19) Comment by Bouncer - 13/09/2012

Ah, yes. The old "insurance policy" approach to belief. Therein lies yet another nonsensical tenet of religion. If I don't "believe," then I will burn in hell, despite the fact that otherwise I might have led a good, moral, charitable life. On the other hand, if someone "believes," then that person can in theory lie, cheat, steal, or do whatever other "sin" he desires and still get a pass into heaven, by virtue of that belief. My point is that nobody needs to believe in any god, Christian or otherwise, in order to be a decent and moral human being and to live an upstanding life. Goodness and morality, in my view, should be ends in and of themselves....not virtues that are assumed in the hope of some sort of "reward" for good behavior in a mythical afterlife. Essentially, it's nothing more than bribery and scare tactics, in much the same way that a parent will attempt to bribe or scare a child by offering a trip to Chuck E. Cheese if the child is good or severe punishment if the child is bad. That's no way to teach being good for its own sake.

20) Comment by CountryBoysCanSurvive - 13/09/2012

Here is a thought for you Atheists. As I understand it, you don't have to go to "Church" to be saved only believe there is a God and believe in Him (faith) What have you got to loose? If you accept God and die and there is a heaven you have gone out a winner. If you do not believe and die and there is a hell you go out a looser, big time. Why not play the odds so to speak? I will never forget a sermon I heard once on hell. The preacher described eternity as a sparrow flying down to earth every one thousand years and taking one small peck at it and the time it took for him to destroy the earth is what eternity will be like. Where do you want to spend it, Micheal? .

21) Comment by Bighug - 13/09/2012

As someone who agrees with Dr. Polito, I forgive you and your religion for saying that I will suffer eternal torture for not agreeing with you, Janet. Comments by phil that atheists will destroy the country are ridiculous. Study history, phil, and see how well any country fared under religious rule, from the Roman Empire to Iran.

22) Comment by phil - 12/09/2012

Then there is my previous comment to the letter by Mr. Polito -- "Letters like this make me really realize exactly how there is an organized attempt in the USA right now to make this an atheist county with little or no value system. That is one of the first steps for the destruction of the USA from within. Stand up for what you believe in if you believe in God and religion. If you do not do that, the minority atheists in this country will take over and destroy the USA from within." -- Therefore, I thank the writer of this letter for standing up for what she believes in and for being pretty nice about how she stated it..

23) Comment by phil - 12/09/2012

The following are taken from the letter by Mr. Polito: "stupefying and appalling myths of religions -stupidity-our 14th- century-thinking-unwitting children -absurdity of religious dogma- the acolytes he absurdity of religion - absurdity is Christianity, the largest delusion in the United States- ridiculous notion of a virgin birth.- alleged life of its namesake, Jesus- Religions are a man-made artifact to explain the unexplainable- There are no witches -Everything in the holy books has been debunked by science, logic and reason.- idea of creationism is as absurd as demons and curses". The entire letter was based on hate and ignorance in my opinion. The God I believe in is a forgiving God. so hopefully God will forgive him.

24) Comment by prbeav - 12/09/2012

I wasn't Catholic but was a Christian through five decades, and I would add that some folks might feel intimidated by Michael Polito's letter, as they see it as a challenge to act on their faith: if you are not willing to act for your god, your god will not act for you.>>If reversing indoctrination is in a Christian's future, overcoming this fabricated threat is the greatest challenge.>>Reversing indoctrination is a difficult, hard task, and it is not something a person will decide to do. It takes a huge challenge, like discovering that a loved one's differing religion is more important to you than the one your parents taught you; then that opening of your mind helping you to realize you never wanted to persuade yourself to believe something that is obviously false.>>Polito wrote a kind, plain statement of his view, without threat or apology, and his noble purpose is to stop the psychological abuse of Louisiana children in biology class. If just one person is shaken to reversing their religious indoctrination, it will be an admirable event for Baton Rouge, the Advocate, Polito, and most of all the person who responded.

25) Comment by chem - 12/09/2012

Agree with what has been said so far. Bouncer stated it quite well. But I have a question for Ms. Kliebert: What was "hateful and hate- filled" about the letter she references? Was it hateful because you don't agree with the content of the letter?

26) Comment by potkcalb - 12/09/2012

Polito and Bouncer have been saved. But what about Whatchange and me (potkcalb)? I hope there is enough room for us.

27) Comment by Whatchange - 12/09/2012

its OK Bouncer, you're forgiven

28) Comment by potkcalb - 12/09/2012

Well said Bouncer. I can't add anything to your perceptive comment.

29) Comment by Bouncer - 12/09/2012

This is an absurd letter, and I cannot for the life of me understand why The Advocate would choose to print it. In any event, I am sure that Mr. Polito was losing a lot of sleep worrying over whom he had offended with his letter, and I'm sure that he will sleep much better knowing that one Christian with a big, forgiving heart has given him permission to hold his own opinions on the matter of religion. Part of the problem with "Christians" such as the author of this letter is that they make a big, ostentatious public display of their religion, such as is shown here. This woman, if she were sincere in her "forgiveness," would have done so in her heart and then let it go, with no need to put her name out there in public and make a spectacle of herself. But no, she has to trumpet to the world what a "good person" she is. Despite all her pretty talk, my money is betting that in her private moments and in her innermost heart, she is calling Mr. Polito every foul name in the book.