Letter: Atheism comes naturally to this reader at least

From Lucy Roberts, Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK

I can easily believe that I am not always rational, as Graham Lawton suggests while discussing innate superstition (10 December 2016, p 29). I could even justify it if I wanted: after all, it is hard work considering an action from all angles all the time.

I can believe that sometimes the “rational” thing to do is to take the shortcut, go with your gut instinct and spend the time you've saved lying in a hammock.

However, I am pretty sure that I, and many others I know, are atheist to the core. As such I disagree with Lawton's statement that “atheism is hard work” and “only skin deep”. It seems to me that belief in a god has to be taught, and regularly reinforced.

I suggest that atheism is the “natural” state for which no effort or education is required.

Rationality probably isn't a “natural” state, and it may be that we are not always as rational as we would like to think, but being rational is not the same as being an atheist. I can be a rational or an irrational atheist, but I don't see how you can be a rational theist.