Sir, – Bernard O’Grady writes a series of profound questions: how do we account for the complexity of the world? How did the universe come to exist? Why does nature operate according to laws? He concludes his letter by contrasting humble religious belief with what he calls the “scientific arrogance” of atheism.
All scientific knowledge is provisional, and is only accepted for as long as it fits with observation; religious belief is “revealed” once and subsequently shielded from the blasphemy of criticism. Science freely admits where its hard-won knowledge runs out, and where guesswork begins; religions believe that the answers to these profound questions are already known. Science shows us our tiny place in a vast and indifferent universe; religions say that we are the focus of a divine plan, and that all of creation was made with us in mind. In short, Mr O’Grady should worry about the log in his own eye before accusing science of arrogance. – Yours, etc,