...My Response

My response to Mr. Rudy's letter:

"Outdated World View"
EDITOR: In the letter by Jerry Rudy (“Explaining disasters” Jan. 6), Mr. Rudy argued that, in light of such disasters as the tsunami, we must turn from the “outdated world view” which suggests that such events are controlled, or at least affected by a supernatural being. While I respect Mr. Rudy’s desire for greater rationality, and agree wholeheartedly that we should do all that is within our power to predict and prepare for such catastrophes, his proposal forces me to wonder: What then shall we tell the survivors? We can only tell them that they were kept alive by a fluke. Without any such “outdated world view,” what is there to say to the victims’ families? We can only tell them that the death of their kin means nothing, just as their lives meant nothing. No, Mr. Rudy, I will not. It is by this world view that we have hope, it is by this world view that we have reason, and in this world view, I have found the rationality that drives me to help those in need.
~Aurenande