One Andrew Tichbon, of Green Bay (poor man, he's from Auckland) had a go at me in the NZ Herald yesterday, saying my "letter on religious healing" was nonsense. Even as a Carmelite, I had to refute that. Not in my own defence, of course, but in defence of faith in God.
As it turns out, I didn't need to write this. Gavan O'Farrell of Wellington took up the cudgels on my behalf - or rather, on behalf of faith in God.
In the interests of free speech, I uphold Andrew Tichbon’s right to
extrapolate from my statements on ‘religiosity’ and mental health a conclusion
that is misled and misleading.
Happiness depends on a thousand and one factors,
but people of all religious faiths report, in official UK stats for example, a
higher level of happiness than atheists. Tichbon’s own insight, that “perhaps high quality government and social
cohesion are more reliable generators of health and happiness”, only serves to
support the argument for Christianity.
Where governments are soundly based on
the highest quality - love for one’s neighbour – social cohesion automatically
follows.
That is of course with the proviso that such a government is not hijacked
by dictators (as in Syria and Central America) who despite any profession of
faith in God behave, like Tichbon, as if he does not exist.
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