Dear Mr. Producer

I watched with a bevy of mixed emotions as you aired your special report dubbed ‘Against all Gods’. I for one think it as a good thing to bring to light the reality of people who have chosen to think differently on matters faith. It is indeed a wake-up call to the many especially to the parents and clergy who have for a very long time assumed that faith in God is obvious and assumed to all. Understandably so, for many, the idea that one would identify as an atheist is not only weird but taboo. I thus consider this a breath of fresh air and a wake-up call to many of us who are believers.

Having said that, however, I cannot help but wonder whether there is misinformation on your side or a clear and deliberate choice to mislead the public on the issue of God. For a country that is deeply religious, it is clearly unfair to raise the public psyche on an issue without allowing an adequate response from the people who hold dearly to such worldviews. For starters, even your title ‘Against all gods’ assumes that the evidence for all the gods is the same. I as a Christian am convinced that the Christian worldview makes sense of a lot of data in our human experience including philosophical, moral, ethical, historical and scientific, and I have substantial evidence to back this claim.

My main concern is in the fact that you didn’t allow adequate response from the religious folk who have dedicated their lives to pursue these issues. It might have been good to hear to a response from Christian apologists for example from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, Word of Truth Ministries or Apologetics Kenya. Over and above that, you subjected the issues raised by religious leaders to critic from the atheists but a similar opportunity was not accorded the Christians.

A more balanced approach to the issue would have given your feature more credibility. Below are some of the issues that were just made but no response given:

• God does not exist- What evidence is there for this assertion
• Belief in God is a delusion- Why?
• No evidence for teleology and design i.e. we have no purpose- how do you know this?
• We know nobody who has come up from the grave. Isn’t the Christian faith pegged on the reality of one who came from the grave?
• Dawkins position that the chances of God existence are slim to none- Is this statistical?
• Science has done more for humanity more than religion ever will- Did you know that modern science finds its roots in Christianity?
• Goodness is natural to us- Really?
• The Bible is just a myth- Substantiate
• Atheism is more about morals- really?
• Morality can be grounded on humanity? Which humans? How do you know what is beneficial to all humankind?

Finally, it behooves good journalism to do a background check on the strongest issues on either side of a debate. Most of the statements the atheists made are just mere opinions that cannot be substantiated though very popular in the public space. The idea of just highlighting Richard Dawkins who wouldn’t even be considered as an authority on the philosophy of religion just betrays a lack of preparedness on your part. Take for example his claim that you quoted below:

‘The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. (Dawkins, 2006)”

It might be of notable value that the same Dawkins in his previous book River out of Eden has said:

“The universe we observe has … no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. … DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music (Creation Minitstries, 2008).

 If indeed there’s nothing as good or evil just pitiless indifference, what does He mean when he says God is evil? What does he mean when he says that religion is the cause of all evil in the world? This, by the way, is characteristic of a lot of Dawkins’ work. He might be a good biologist but a very poor philosopher

Finally, it would have been newsworthy to know how it is better to have an anthem with no God when a majority of people believe He exists. Why should religious people subscribe to a secular anthem? Why the need to secularize education in a country that is deeply religious? All these and others are questions that needed to be asked. You should have put the atheists to task about their own objectives. Whilst it is not in the scope of this letter to answer these questions, it is my humble appeal that all this be put into consideration.

One cannot help but wonder whether it is in the interest of the special feature to advance the cause of atheism. The video of police chasing some individuals might just give the impression that there is a crackdown on atheists. Of what interest does this serve? I have to note that to be relevant one has to air something that is newsworthy, but that does not mean it has to be biased. Perhaps a second feature with a response might be the least that you can do. It might surprise you that religion is more grounded in facts and reason more than atheism claims

References

Creation Minitstries. (2008, August 27). Are you Dancing to your DNA? Retrieved from Creation MInistries. org: https://creation.com/are-you-dancing-to-your-dna

Dawkins, R. (2006). The God Delusion. Bantam Press, Tansworld Publishers.