Self-serving Logic

Sarah Andrews

I discovered that laypeople know little of the mechanics of the scientific method. By extension, I fear that likewise they know little of the mechanics of their own religious belief system . . . To illustrate what I mean by that, let's consider how many people who believe that "If God existed, God would not allow the terrible things that happened in this world to happen." The logic behind this statement is self-serving. The subject first sets a definition of God (all powerful), then delegates all responsibility to God and has the temerity to erase God's existence based on performance of this impossible job. Anyone who's ever worked in management knows that when acccepting responsibility, one must also demand commensurate authority to define the job; even then, one must put up with endless criticism from underlings who, due to lack of experience, cannot perceive the true nature of the job. To believe that God does not exist, the subject of the belief has first defined for himself what God must be like.


Sarah is a geology professor at Cal State University, Sonoma, a friend, and the author of ten mysteries whose protagonist is Em Hanson. Em is a geologist who finds herself involved in a variety of mysterious and dangerous circumstances that occur because of her job assignments. At the end of her "Bone Hunter", a mystery novel published by St. Martins press, Sarah wrote an editorial comment that I have excerpted. Sarah's other mysteries can be purchased at Amazon.com. Her latest book is “In Cold Pursuit: A Mystery from the Last Continent”.