I AGREE with Lesley Lickley (Letters, May 18) that religionists try to claim a "moral high ground" and very often regard non-believers with some contempt, at best to be tolerated reluctantly.

But as an atheist, I consider myself far superior morally to them, and rational.

Given 70 years living in Great Britain, I am aware what religion has done, in terms of unnecessary fear and misery, to many, in my lifetime. We atheists should not be ashamed or afraid to claim this superiority.

Fortunately, a better-informed younger generation has largely emerged from the terrors my parent generation were taught, and I attribute this to the influence of the modern media, and their courage in demanding a better life, free of needless terrors and unfounded superstitions.

People are not born with a knowledge of "gods" and their rules - they are taught these things by teachers or those who claim to be representatives of these "invented" gods.

An almost universal character of these "invisible" deities is that we cannot contact them, and so have no chance to object to, discuss, or debate, their claims and "rules".

Imposed religious belief is therefore a dictatorship. And the teachings are often of barbaric punishments and retributions for "offences" they choose to define.

Scientific evidence claims humans to be a particularly successful species of animal. I am happy with this - I don't need the conceit of religionists who seek to appoint themselves as "special" or "chosen", and invent a "soul" to satisfy this claim.

Again without any evidence, they continue to backtrack and struggle to re-interpret their claimed books of authority, in the face of ever-mounting and contradictory scientific evidence - to me, a religious account of the world and how things came to be is a non-starter.

When will they admit defeat?

Mr D Dawson,

Clifton, York.

Updated: 09:31 Thursday, May 25, 2006