To the editor:

When and where we are born is a matter of the luck of the draw. Our life is in the cards, so to speak. Sometimes we seem to be like wind-up toys, running around doing our thing, then falling down and needing a re-wind. Perhaps we are like automatons acting out the programs instilled in us by millions of causes and effects traceable all the way back to the creation of the universe.

Consider a child in the 17th century that is born into a Buddhist family in China. In all likelihood that child will be a lifelong Buddhist. Envision a child in the 10th century that is born into a Muslim family in the Middle East. There’s tremendous social pressure to remain in that faith. And then there’s the child in the 21st century that is born into a Southern Baptist family in Mississippi — probably a Christian fundamentalist for life. Contemplate a child 5,000 years ago born into a hunter-gatherer family in what is now called Africa. That child would grow up to follow the spiritual beliefs of his or her family and tribe. Ponder about a child, 60,000 years ago, born into a Neanderthal family. What religious or spiritual belief, if any, would that child be taught?

Clearly, the major predictors of religious affiliation are family, geography, and time historically. Is it fair that, by the luck of the draw, a person is born into the “true” faith while others are not?

How lucky are the people who are born into Muslim families in Saudi Arabia and to know that paradise awaits them after death while all the people of other faiths are doomed.

How lucky are the people who are born into Hindu families in India and to know that reincarnation awaits them with advancement to a higher status in the next life if so deserved.

How lucky are the people who are born into Christian families in the United States that become followers of the teaching of Jesus, and expect all non-Christians in the world to suffer everlasting punishment.

And this analysis could be applied to the multitudes of other religions.

Do any of these religions have a modicum of the truth? Are all these just different paths to the mountaintop or are they aimless wanderings in a dark forest? Could they all be wrong and their views are nothing but organized and ritualized superstition?