To the editor:

Mike Hoeflich is well-justified in fearing the clash between modern, open secularism and backward-looking, authoritarian religion as exemplified in current violence over published caricatures of Muhammad.

Supposedly having the power of God on their side, the religious tellingly show thin-skinned volatility over even the mildest ridicule, real or imagined. Witness the overblown outrage at Paul Mirecki’s candidly expressed, private disdain for certain beliefs. Caricature whatever you will, criticize any foolishness in the harshest terms, but leave religious ideas untaunted, for they have special protection.

Says who? Sam Harris in “The End of Faith” has identified the root of our trouble as this taboo, allowing “faiths” to make the most wildly groundless assertions in a bubble of soft soap “tolerance” no matter how offensive we find their implications. Now for this indulgence, the destructive potential of modern technology is accessible to people with a medieval world view – a terrifying prospect.

H.L. Mencken said, “We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the same sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.” Sure, if that theory is harmless and purely personal taste. But in this clash of realities, we risk violent descent into our superstitious past, this time perhaps forever. Reason needs defenders now.

Bruce S. Springsteen,

Lawrence