Editor,
I find Andres Saenz's letter published in Tuesday's Daily Lobo amusing. The attitude he expresses clearly reveals his level of ignorance and bigotry.
First of all, he didn't really address Wayne Silva's point at all, which was that it's really OK for children to know about sex - not, as Saenz would have people believe, that children ought to have promiscuous sex when they're ready even at a really young age.
Empowering people and children with knowledge has never been a bad thing, as it helps them to make correct decisions. Rather than tell kids not to have sex because they'll get punished by hell for all eternity, it's better to tell them about sex and how to protect themselves from the bad aspects of it.
Perhaps Saenz should work on his critical reading exercises a little more vigorously. He then goes on to distance himself from atheists, which is the silliest portion of his letter. He would seriously disqualify hanging out with a group of people because they hold different views.
In a hypothetical situation, because I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit, he would not consider me to be one of his pals. This bigotry is coming from a person who purports to hold superior morals over the rest of us.
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The hypocrisy almost makes me crack up laughing. On the other hand, we must remind ourselves that Saenz and his comrades take themselves seriously. Since they make up the majority of this country, we must therefore take them seriously, as well.
The only reason anyone could believe this load of tripe, and would have others believe it, is because they were taught as little children that they would burn in a pit of fire and brimstone if they believed otherwise.
This Jesus-is-love-or-else mentality is exactly what we have to get past in order to understand each other as human beings. Atheists do not inherently leave a sin residue on everything they touch -- it's not something you'll catch by being in a room full of them.
In fact, Saenz, they're human beings just like you. So go out on a limb and come to a Humanist Society meeting and discuss ideas rather than remain bunched up in the tiny pious bubble that you call religion.
Look at the facts, and listen to other ideas, and you may see why the world now finally has the opportunity to move past first-century ideas, and into the 21st century, into the realm of science and reason.
David Gonzalez
UNM student
