To the Editor:
In “God Is a Question, Not an Answer” (The Stone, Sunday Review, March 27), William Irwin writes, “Any honest atheist must admit that he has his doubts, that occasionally he thinks he might be wrong, that there could be a God after all.”
Many “honest” atheists, including me, don’t care to consider the question of God at all. Aside from the simple truth that the question does not interest me, the existence of a god or gods would not change the way I live my life, and therefore holds no value to me. I also find it a waste of time and attention to wonder about the unknowable when there are so many interesting and urgent questions with real answers waiting to be revealed.
I would not assume that another’s theological quandaries do not benefit them in some way, and Mr. Irwin should not assume that my lack of interest in those same questions leaves me spiritually impoverished, or my “doubt of indifference” has “no clear benefits.”
The issue we must come to accept is not that some believe and some do not; we are not, as Mr. Irwin writes, “partners in a continuing conversation, addressing an enduring question.” What must be accepted is the fact that many atheists do not find the question enduring and would rather have a conversation about something else.
STACY SCHIERHOLZ
Seattle
Note from KBJ: Poor, uncurious Stacy Schierholz! I feel sorry for someone for whom the question of the existence of God is of no interest. It's immensely interesting, and always has been. I think about it, read about it, talk about it, write about it, and teach it. Though I'm not a theist, I just received, as a birthday present from dear Katherine, my own eight-volume set of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica. I can't wait to get started reading it. One reason Schierholz gives for not being interested in the question of the existence of God is that it would not change the way he or she lives. By that standard, Schierholz should not be interested in 99.9% of science.
