Letterbox (October 2026)
Dossey’s powerful column really hit the mark
I just want to thank Daniel Dossey for the most powerful article about leaving Christianity that I have ever read. He words it so beautifully and so accurately that I felt every word. I, too, grew up in a very conservative, religious background, and although my pathway after leaving was very different, the feelings and the considerations articulated by Daniel hit the mark exactly. Amazing writer, amazing insight. Thank you, Daniel.
Rebecca C.
Oregon
Here’s a secular version of the Nicene Creed
Every 7-year-old from a Catholic family is made to memorize the Nicene Creed, which has been an anchor document for the Catholic Church since the Council of Nicea in 325 CE.
The Nicene Creed has been extremely useful for unifying the Church and giving people an easy point of reference that was worked out by the clerics. It asserts belief in God, the Jesus story as specified, the inclusion of a Holy Spirit into a trinity, and the belief that the Catholic Church is the one and only true church.
I looked around and was surprised to find that there is no “Secular Creed” to express the beliefs of those who take a more scientific approach to the questions of existence. So, I wrote one.
My secular creed is approximately the same length as the Nicene Creed, and I open it up for commentary. I feel that there are other things that can be included or further articulated, but I also don’t want to bloat the document unnecessarily. Like the Nicene Creed, I want it to be a handy reference that is easy to follow.
The Secular Creed
I believe in the unintelligent design of the universe.
And that there is no consciousness monitoring our every thought and action.
Except ourselves and those around us.
I believe that randomness has no choice.
But to eventually create life, because with so many combinations of circumstance,
It could not avoid eventually doing so.
I believe that once replicating life was formed,
It accelerated the process of evolution,
Favoring those forms of life,
That continued to live and replicate.
I believe that humankind
Is a very evolved product of this evolution.
And that mathematics tells us
That somewhere out there
Even more evolved life forms exist.
I believe that the vastness of the universe
Is more than humankind can comprehend.
Yet we still have a driving need
For an explanation of things
That is within our grasp.
Whether or not that explanation
Agrees with what is out there
I believe that
While we know that we don’t have the answers,
There is a great temptation
To transfer our trust
To someone who says they do.
Someone who can help us to deny death.
Someone who can assure us
That they make sense of it all.
It is my belief
That the observations that I make
The things that I figure out for myself
Are the most reliable
And far and away
For my purposes
The most economical.
Martin M.
California
Epicurus surprisingly not mentioned in Loftus column
The essay attacking theodicy by John Loftus in the September issue was interesting. However, I was surprised that he made no mention of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BCE), who first drew attention to the logical contradiction between an all-powerful and all-loving god. The argument put forth by Loftus is, in fact, part of a long philosophical tradition. As pointed out in the bible, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Tom D.
‘Biblical truth’ is a far cry from actual truth
Ken Paxton of Texas has anchored his Senate campaign in “defending biblical truths,” claiming the country must be Judeo-Christian. If he is so staunch in doing this, I wonder how he would defend the following “biblical truth”?
In the biblical creation story, it says God creates light, and then “saw that the light was good.” God creates the seas and then saw that it was good. God creates animals and then saw it was good.
If he is supposed to be all-knowing and all-powerful, the text should have read: “God creates light/seas/animals/etc. because it was good.”
It’s as if God had to first create something and then figure out if it actually was good. “My goodness, I created such and such and, whoopsie, it actually was good. Well, what do you know!”
That kills the myth right there.
Is this the “biblical truth” endorsed by Paxton and Trump?
Bill C.
Indiana
I’m 80 and living simply as a pacifist atheist
I am an 80-year-old longtime activist. I am openly gay, polyamorous, vegan and a living-simply enthusiast.
I was a sincere Christian preacher in the 1960s in Virginia and Illinois. After a long journey away from religion, I am now a sincere atheist. My main reason for no longer believing in a fair, loving parent God is that hundreds of millions of people for thousands of years have begged God desperately for help from slavery, starvation, floods, fires, pain, torture, rape, war . . . and received no help!
I know it’s terrifying for anyone strongly devoted to any religion to realize there is no fair, loving parent God.
I did two years of community service as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. I refused to go murder and die!
As a person opposed to all war, I did not want to pay federal taxes to train and equip young people, mostly low-income and people of color, to become professional hired killers to murder on command.
So, for 47 years now, I have paid no federal income tax — not one bloody penny! I enjoy living simply below the U.S. federal income taxable level and below the poverty level.
Don S.
New Mexico
God couldn’t exist in this universe before Big Bang
Many religious people believe that God exists and has been around for trillions and trillions of years.
The Big Bang created our universe about 13.4 billion years ago. It created the atoms that resulted in the stars and everything else, including the Earth and all of humanity. It’s very difficult to understand that space did not exist before the Big Bang. No matter how great and powerful humans think God is, it could not have existed in our universe before the Big Bang because the universe did not yet exist.
Jason B.
Nevada
Some thoughts on the evolution of morality
Morality evolves. There was a time when we regarded genocide, misogyny, slavery and cruelty as part of life.
Genocide is well documented in history and in the bible (Numbers 31 is a quintessential example).
As for misogyny, women were not viable members of a population. They could not own property, vote, establish credit, resist their husbands, start a business, run for office, etc. That’s half of the population!
Slavery was a part of life in most societies, including ours. Cruelty was accepted as a necessary part of life. We burned people at the stake, drowned women we accused of being witches, buried people up to their necks and stoned them, nailed people to trees, put people in stocks, immobilizing their necks and wrists in a position that was uncomfortable at best in order to humiliate them in public.
But, we have improved. Even though today there are instances of each of the items above, they are not official policy of most governments and they are viewed as immoral by most of us.
Genocide is basically gone. (At least those governments that practice it feel obliged to deny what it is when it does occur.) For the most part, women are free and unrestrained in the Western world. The glass ceiling still exists to some extent, but it has been defeated by many. Slavery is ended here and Jim Crow practices have been officially overcome. Cruel practices are no more.
So, how did we get here? In 1215, England accepted the Magna Carta, which introduced the rule of law. Kings ostensibly could no longer establish arbitrary rules. Laws were written and everyone was required to abide by them. An individual charged with a crime was entitled to a fair trial by his or her equals. That helped shape the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. Because what they were doing was treason in Britain, they would have been executed had they failed, so it was literally their lives and fortunes at stake.
In recent decades, women have achieved full rights. We ended slavery and eventually ended the Jim Crow laws. People of color have achieved equality under the law, even if ostensibly they may have not. In recent decades, we have stopped blatant use of racial and ethical terms of denigration. Ethnic jokes were part of my experience when I was a kid, they are not now. To a great extent, we provide for people with limitations.
Unfortunately, with the election of Donald Trump, evolution of morality and civility has been interrupted. We are facing a moral crisis now with Trump attempting to overturn the rule of law by his actions, his weaponization of the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court and his domination of the complicit MAGA base. Sacred honor doesn’t seem to be a part of that. It is not clear whether morality and civility will be restored when this is all over.
Stephen K.
Maryland
