Editor’s note: The following comment was left in response to “LETTERS: Laws protect homosexuality, Bible doesn’t justify bigotry” on Sept. 24. The letter that follows is in response to Jon Stephen’s online comment.

“Higher thought is what has led to many of the crises that this country currently finds itself in. Unfortunately, we have come to believe that we are infinitely more intelligent than God and therefore have outgrown His laws. If you will recall the day of September 11, many if not all in the country were searching for answers and asking God why this would happen. It is sad that it took a crisis like this for us to realize that we are all dependent on God. Our forefathers understood this, but we have fallen away even after September 11. I just pray that it doesn’t take an even larger catastrophe to bring us back to our knees. I would suggest you read Genesis Chapter 6-9. God’s wrath can be scary.”

— Jon Stephens

“My goal here is to show how every statement in Jon’s letter was a supposition at best; and a ridiculously illogical blabbering, reminiscent of a bronze age relic yelling at the moon, at worst.

Look at his opening statement about ‘higher thought’; not only is this a supposition, but what is his point?

Is he ranting against intelligence? Is he proposing that the public stay ignorant?

If anything, it has been ‘lower thinking’, such as the stealing of oil, torture, and the military industrial complex, that has put us in this position.

Look at his second statement about ‘us thinking we are smarter than God’; who in their right mind thinks they are smarter than God?

 Those that believe in Him certainly do not think they are smarter than Him; those that do not believe in Him, or are agnostic, believe He is, or is most likely, a fairy tale.

Look at his third statement about people ‘asking God why this happened’; who was asking God why 9/11 happened?

I do not remember anyone asking God why this happened, except of course for Pat Robertson, who claimed gay people and feminism [equality of the sexes] caused 9/11.

To keep this short, and to not beat a dead horse too much, let’s skip to the last comment, which claims ‘God’s wrath is scary’.

How is God omni-benevolent, or all-good, then?

Who wants a God that punishes us for being fallible, especially when he knows we are fallible?

I would suggest Jon not read a book that was written by men who were misogynistic, barbaric, and had no understanding of modern science.

I would suggest Jon not read a book that was re-written a dozen times, and can be interpreted a million different ways.

I suggest this not only because of all the inherent logical problems, but also because religion is an institution that politicians use as a tool to keep us ignorant.

As I always say, “religion lies in the middle of the animal and knowledgeable civilization spectrum.”

Dan Brown is a 2008 Iowa State University Alumnus.