Though he was sinless he died to pay the penalty of sin for all who will believe in him. That is mercy. Judging by his well-written article, Jim appears to be intelligent and articulate. It was sad that he ended his letter by demeaning every religious person as ignorant and superstitious. Nothing is proven by summarily dismissing those one disagrees with as ignorant.
Name calling only creates intolerance, emotionalism and bitterness.
There are extremely intelligent people among every religious and atheist group in the world. We should be able to have free and cordial dialogue, and walk away friendly - even if we still disagree. I wish to thank Gary Gerard for allowing this kind of dialogue in the paper. This is free speech, and few papers allow it. But, perfect dialogue is with God.