Editor:

As someone raised in a devout household I like to read the Faith Today column in the Chilliwack Times.

However, I converted to atheism decades ago, so I will admit I read the comments of the various contributors with a different viewpoint than when I was, if you will, in the flock.

So it occurred to me that perhaps we non-believers deserve an outlet in the Times. I can envision a similar scenario to what Faith Today people now enjoy. We could have different people from all walks of life contribute columns about their secular belief systems and how they arrived at them.

And make no mistake, there are atheists in all walks of life just as there are believers.

So what could we call our weekly offering. Let's just call it Reason Today. I'm sure that different contributors will offer all manner of explanations about how reason trumped faith or how they acquired a reasoning mind. Some may wish to discuss fossil evidence that refutes the biblical version of our origins. (By the way, what was that snake doing in there?). Some may wish to discuss human spirituality and how it encompasses both the religious and the secular person.

I think I would probably write my first column about how religion has spawned conflict between us through the ages and how, in my opinion, we would be better off without belief in any god or gods whatsoever. Religious zeal has resulted in conflict, misery and death too many times to mention. (I will mention them in my column.)

So I call on people of a similar bent to coalesce and have our voices heard. To put it plainly, we need a push back. I'll leave the last word to the late Christopher Hitchens. "Good people do good things, bad people do bad things, but for good people to do bad things, that takes religion."

Gord Smith Chilliwack