While visiting Augusta relatives, I read Mark Gelbart's Aug. 6 letter to the editor, "Religion -- who needs it, anyway?" I would say that he, in particular, needs it!

The Holy Bible has a message for one with the writer's mindset: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth " (Genesis 1:1); and, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalms 14:1). In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we read, "But the natural man (lost man, unbeliever) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned."

The writer's foolishness and ignorance of God, Christianity, the Holy Bible, our Founding Fathers and world religions is evident to all informed readers. They know that there is only one world religion that makes converts "by the sword," and that is Islam.

True Christianity -- the Christianity of our Founding Fathers -- is belief in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most all of our Founding Fathers were firm believers in this "nutty philosophy" and were committed Christians. President George Washington also was a devout Christian. In his farewell speech in 1796 he said, "It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. ... Let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Mr. Gelbart's closing remark that "All religions are an insult to mankind's intelligence, and American society and all of humanity would be better off without them" is closer to the truth than any other statement in his letter. However, it is totally false in the case of Christianity. If he wants to know the truth, which I doubt, he can find it in the Gospel of John.