Heaven forfend

In reply to John Munro and Jimmy Wilson (Letters, 10 April), an atheist is someone who dogmatically asserts the truth of their position while refusing to engage in meaningful debate, making no effort to understand alternative views, and assuming that only the unintelligent or evil would dare disagree with them.

This paucity of argument is usually camouflaged by hurling insults.

There is no logical principle stating that where there are competing understandings of a concept, they must all be wrong. Therefore, the argument that the multiplicity of religious beliefs implies that they are all false is itself fallacious.

Mr Wilson dismisses the origin of the universe as a source of evidence for God.

Even without scientific detail, the philosophical questions are clear. The universe (or the sequence of preceding universes) must have had a cause outside time and preceding the sequence of causation that science can analyse.

Never mind the book of Genesis, rational thought from first principles points to a transcendent creator. The ensuing perfect set of parameters and physical laws then further strengthen the case for an intelligent designer of the universe.

RICHARD LUCAS

Cowan Road

Edinburgh