Spencer Ingram’s Feb. 4 column, “Fast-food morality feeding our culture,” was almost as offensive as it was completely inaccurate.

The moral of his column seems to be implying that because atheists and agnostics do not believe in God or gods, they are therefore not tolerant of anyone who does.

He denounces atheism as “the easy way out,” simply because atheism does not involve subscribing to a complicated system of (generally) illogical beliefs. Atheism or agnosticism, in and of itself, is anything but the easy way out. Atheists and agnostics do not have a ready-made handbook of morality already written for them, for which all thought and reason is unnecessary.

For people who are not members of Ingram’s “whiny interest group,” moral decisions must be made by the individual. It is a constant challenge to determine what is right and what is wrong, rather than simply a challenge to see who is best at memorizing Bible verses.

But what is most confusing is Ingram’s definition of intolerance. He claims that because atheists do not agree with Christians, they must clearly be determined to prevent Christians from practicing their beliefs. This is simply ridiculous. People choose not to subscribe to organized religion because they want to make their own moral decisions, and generally, they believe that other people should have that choice, too.

Niclo Hitchcock

Sophomore

Electrical Engineering