I recently noted that an Oxbridge academic had claimed that 95% of the UK population were destined for the fires of hell. The person responsible, a Reverend Doctor Richard Turnbull has published an article expounding his views on the Guardian Comment is Free website. Here is the email that I have just sent to the email address given at the end of the article:
Dear Doctor Turnbull,
I was concerned to read recently that believe that 95% of the people in this country are going to go to hell if they do not hear the christian gospel. In your article on the Comment is Free website you say that "It won't do to simply associate the evangelical tradition with anti-intellectualism."
If that is true, I would like to ask what intellectual basis you have for making your claim. What scientific methodology can you employ to show that your idea of god exists, and if so how you arrive at your curiously precise figure of 95%. How do you evaluate who is worthy of entry into heaven or eternal damnation? What tests have you done on individual levels of piety and what statistical analysis have you used to extrapolate your figures to the whole population? How have you arrived the conclusion that your interpretation of your religion is the correct one?
If you can't justify your statement with the sort of intellectual rigour that is to be expected of somebody with a doctorate holding a public office, then I respectfully ask you to withdraw it and make a public apology for the crass and offensive nature of your statement.
Bright regards,
Neil Hopkins
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