Letter: Roxane Salonen doesn’t understand why people are … – INFORUM

Roxane Salonen, in her Forum column from Monday, Jan. 2 , laments the inevitable and inexorable abandonment of religion by humanity, yet she trivializes its cause:

“I realize reasons for abandoning faith in God are usually more complex than that, and often have an emotional source,” Salonen wrote.

Emotional source? At best that is an understatement and a deflection. She ignores the role intolerant theology plays. Established fundamentalist religions continue to impose their medieval and backward metaphysics upon the modern world. It is an ideology replete with contempt for women’s bodily autonomy and a visceral bigotry against queer folks, especially transgender people. Young people today can see through this. It is the reason people are more disproportionately non-religious the younger they are.

Salonen also doesn’t know that Friederick Nietzsche saw this decline of religiosity in the 1880s. He explained it in the “Madman Parable” of his book, The Gay Science. We shouldn’t be surprised that after the Madman announced “God is Dead!”, he elaborated.

“‘Whither is God?’ he cried; ‘I will tell you. We have killed him—you and I. All of us are his murderers.’ … Lightning and thunder require time; the light of the stars requires time; deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than most distant stars—and yet they have done it themselves.’”

Yes “they” includes me, Roxane in her own way, and our cohorts.

Ron Gaul is a resident of Fargo.

This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum’s editorial board nor Forum ownership.

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