To the Editor:

Re “The Believer’s Atheist” (column, Dec. 18):

I appreciated Ross Douthat’s thoughtful column about the death of Christopher Hitchens, but I feel the need to clear up a common misconception about atheism, reiterated by Mr. Douthat when he writes that “rigorous atheism casts a wasting shadow over every human hope and endeavor.”

One need not believe in God to believe that life has meaning. Indeed, when one considers the abundance of meaning and fulfillment to be had in art, literature, friendship, love, family, and respect and compassion for one’s fellow human beings, the whole concept of God starts to look superfluous.

This, not some flailing and unnecessary defense against the seductions of religion, was the core of Mr. Hitchens’s argument all along.

BOOMER PINCHES

Northampton, Mass., Dec. 19, 2011