Letter: Unspeakable pain and deaths of World War One caused the turmoil which undermined religious belief
A letter from James Hardy:
A news feature in the News Letter (Gordon Lucy: The British government was split on entering the Great War, July 29) called readers to reflect on the costly cross-generational problems – arguably with us still today - which followed the UK parliament's decision to fight Germany in 1914.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a pacifist of Jewish extraction or identity.
World War One caused him to comment: 'Honour your Master Jesus Christ not only in words and songs, but rather foremost by your deeds.' Church affiliation plummeted in the UK after World War One.
Scientific theories ('The Big Bang Theory' in cosmology and 'The Theory of Evolution' in biology) are sometimes cited as being responsible for a west European collapse of institutional religion.
Gordon Lucy's excellent article took us back to the real cause of the turmoil which undermined religious belief: the unspeakable pain and deaths of World War One.
James Hardy, Belfast BT5