BRUCE’S RAMBLINGS

My friend Steve,

It encourages me that our friendship has grown to a depth in which there is freedom to be open and authentic with each other. What you shared showed a level of trust, which I find meaningful in itself. I must confess that you made a point which caused me to rethink, and even make me aware of, a prejudice that I have. If I had been shown your first paragraph outside of the context in which it exists (not knowing whom it was from and was asked to describe this person, I would have pictured a rather hardened and cynical individual. On the contrary, I know you to be quite a caring, sensitive and deeply compassionate human being. This is a fresh reminder to, as Jesus once put it, not be so quick to judge.

I found your approach to God as fantasy intriguing. You argued against the belief in God, “God is an imagined fantasy”, by creating an argument that it in itself was born from a fantasy. Your entire argument is based upon something you imagined up, even imagining that there was a time where a deity had not been recognized. I guess it helps dispel any notion that an atheist lacks imagination. In my opinion, it takes a lot of imagination to define world history without a divine presence. Being an atheist therefore, in my humble opinion, requires quite a lot of imagination.

Let me take a step back and ask: What do we know to be true? For example, we know that the world has many scientific principles required to maintain it’s existence. We know that human beings have certain abilities that plants and animals do not. We know that if we are not good stewards with our planet and fellow human beings, we will create mass destruction. We know that orgasms, since you brought the topic up, are simply amazing.

My specific question though, is what else do we know? That is at the very least, with all of the things that have come and gone, what has remained consistent? For example, as hard as this is to imagine, Kenneth Cole fashions once did not exist and one day, brace yourself, one day will be considered so passé. Of course there are some things that have come that I am glad are gone, togas for one (not a fan of drafts) and silk disco shirts, as sexy as they were. You can argue, for example that Jesus has not always existed, at least as far as the world’s understanding goes. What about God, or at least a concept of god? No matter how radical the times have changed or how drastically different one culture is from another, there has never been a time in recorded history that the majority of human beings did not gravitate to a higher being, not to mention to go as far as worship of this higher deity. With all of the things that have come and gone, and as drastically different a third world off the map tribe was from the latest “refined” concurring nation, one thing that appears to be consistently true, as true as science itself, most human beings; from their core; believe there is a greater deity, one that is worthy of worship. When I refer to recorded history, I am not just referring to modern history, but I am referring to the earliest recording found, pictures from early human. It takes greater faith to believe there was a time in which at least some deity was not recognized, when evidence shows otherwise. It takes great faith to believe that you have come to a conclusion that most of the human race, (from the early times to 2009), has come to believe contrary. It takes great faith to believe that this vacuum that seems to exist in human beings, regardless what culture they exist in, what their ancestry they come from and what context they live in, that longs for a connection for a higher being, to close your eyes and act as if it does not exist. It takes great faith to come to a conclusion that is contrary to the conclusion of Sir Isiac Newton, Albert Einstein, Blaise Pascal and other great thinkers who after a lifetime of study concluded there is a god of some sort. In fact, the picture you posted of so-called atheist, I would argue that most of them were not atheist. Eventually I would like to talk about Jesus and yes I agree many were not followers of Jesus, but we are not there yet, but many were deist. That could be a rich conversation at another point.

Sir Fred Hoyle, a mathematician and astronomer calculated that the probability of one simple enzyme forming by chance is 10 to the power of 20 to one. Hence, for one cell to form, about 2000 enzymes are needed, which make the probably of the first self replicating cell forming by random movement of atoms as 10 to the power of 40,000 to one. It would be more likely for a singular cyclone to rip through a junkyard and create a fully functional jumbo jet. This of course is one enzyme alone and does not include all that is needed for the human body, diversity of body parts, plant life, eco system and so on. It takes great faith to believe in pure chance.

Pushing all of that aside. Steve, you know I am not Catholic, but I know that in all of those years you had in mass, there had to be at least a few times that you knew, beyond all doubt, that a god existed whom with you longed to be connected.

I do have a question for you in all of this, pushing the global arguments aside, why do you personally struggle with the concept of God?

Your friend
Bruce