An Open Letter to Stefan Molyneux

I was watching a video by a man named Stefan Molyneux. He openly states that he is an Atheist, nothing wrong with that; but, his reason for being one is a little weak and not that uncommon. As my long time readers know, I am a Christian and even preached for five years receiving not one penny, not even for gas for my car. In fact, preaching cost me thousands of dollars which went to the church and a food pantry. In fact this blog began as a discussion of reality which eventually became a proof of God. That version of this blog was deleted years ago as was the second iteration of this blog.

The current version of this blog does not focus on philosophy or religion, it mainly focuses on technology and social, economic and political corruption. This third iteration of this blog is more about the lies we are told than the truths that are out there.

Mr. Molyneux is an intelligent and articulate person seeking the perfect moral code while arguing there is no God. I usually do not address such people because I am not evangelical. I believe that if God wants your attention he can get it without my intervention. I believe it is my job to have an answer for the hope that is within me when asked. As for my blog, it is just where I express my beliefs and all are free to leave a comment telling me I am an idiot or don't even bother reading it. My blog is not my mission and I still have that many readers. Currently I have approximately 120,000 views is 7 years or so. Hard to say how many when I deleted the first two versions. I do not advertise, monetize or promote this blog anywhere. Never have.

The video I watched of Mr. Molyneux made it clear to me that he would like to know if there is a God. In the video he discussed why he became an Atheist. It wasn't because he did not see the world around him. He did another video where he said the greatest proof for God was our sentience, what our thoughts do and are capable of. He became an Atheist because he could not understand how a God could let us be so evil to each other and how people who claimed to believe in him could ignore the morals of the bible. His discussion was very sincere and deeply personal and emotional for him. Perhaps I am wrong; but, I think he wants to believe. He also wants to believe we will get better here on earth, we will not. People have not improved over time, the same follies, the same corruption and the same selfishness exist side by side with the love and selflessness. We each make our own choices and none are bound by the decisions of the past by others.

Life is very much about seeing how the range of people, emotions, deals with a range of environments. Life is about defining ourselves, not having God define us completely. That is the thing about free will, it is a gift that allows us to choose who we will be and we only really know ourselves when tested to the fullest extent and we only really know others when they are too. Each person's test is individual. The people that have it easiest in life tend to be the most smug, selfish and heartless; but, not all. It is harder for people to find true empathy for the pain of others when they have been raised believing all others are here to make their lives better. That is the mistake Mr. Molyneux makes. My brother used to say that if he was born on earth to make everyone happy, he sure did a bad job of it. It was a joke he used to explain that it was not his job to please the world and it is a pretty good one.

Where does the concept that God is your personal concierge come from? Where is the reasonableness in saying I won't believe in God unless he turns the world into a gigantic fricking Disneyland where all are happy all the time come from? Not the bible, not history.  If we only focus on the evil men do then we miss the good that they do. Jesus said to focus on the good.

This is a video about one of the greatest chefs in the world, Thomas Keller. He is the owner of "The French Laundry" a world renowned restaurant in California. It is my ambition to go there one day, one of the few things I would like to do before I die. Mr. Keller lives to bring joy to others through his cooking. The four going to taste his food are famous food people who other chefs look to; but, Mr. Keller blows their minds and they say his food is perfection. His response it perfect, you cannot attain perfection because as soon as you do it is gone. He is not a philosopher by trade and may not have said it perfectly; but, he is right. Perfection is not one thing, one result or even one concept. Perfection is a process, a progression which results in ongoing change. Perfection is not a rock, it is a process. It is seeking a simple question, what is the best that I can be and what is the best we can be, one question because in the end we are all connected and we all effect the world around us. Learning that simple answer takes a lifetime. I had to die to learn it.

The second heart attack was different than the first. The first was scary and I was alone. My wife at the time had filed for divorce and was having an affair with another man, not her first. It was Christmas and our tradition involved seeing an aunt of mine. I wasn't feeling well. I told the kids and their boyfriends and my wife at the time to visit my aunt as usual but that I could not make it as I was not feeling well. While nobody knew it but me, my aunt did not want to see my wife at the time as she knew about her adultery and our impending divorce, so did my kids but they were adults almost or mostly. After they left, I felt the pains and dizzy and confused and everything I was taught I should expect when having a heart attack (which doctors had said I would have for years). I lay in bed by myself while everyone else is celebrating Christmas and had my first heart attack. I didn't bother calling anyone, not ever 911. As it occurred I could only feel fear. I was absolutely terrified, embarrassed and didn't want to call anyone. Maybe I just couldn't feel any worse than I already did.

The second heart attack happened in Baker, California. I think it was about a year later. I was headed to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and it began, or at least I knew it was coming for some reason, about three miles out in the middle of nowhere. I knew I had to get off the freeway or I could kill someone. I drove into Baker and parked in the Starbucks parking lot. It was worse than the first one, it hurt more physically and I went away for a moment. I was between here and there. I was just as scared as the first time; but, something else happened. I had to decide how I wanted to leave this world and I decided that I wanted to leave it with no excess baggage. I was happy with my choices and results except one, the divorce. I resented her deeply and what she had done to our family. I forgave her and the man she was cheating on me with, in front of our kids. I believe that was the moment I was saved, at least I immediately got better and my blood pressure went back to normal. Well, normal for me at the time, it was still dangerously high. I didn't see a doctor for a few years later and he told me that he could tell from my tests that I had a heart attack. He also didn't think I would last a year; but, I have lasted a few.

A couple of years after the second heart attack, or at least one I think, I had a different kind of experience. God communicated with me. I wasn't on any  medication at the time. After the second heart attack I saw my first doctor and he put me on a whole bunch of pills for my high blood pressure. I stopped taking them before I had my God experience. I won't call it a "religious" experience. It was just me communicating with a higher being, another sentience that was vastly more expansive than me. I call that being God; but, God never told me his name. Well sort of. I asked him his name and he said he didn't have one, I pressed the question (the only time I remember pressing any question, hmmm) and he said I could call him Jaime. I laughed because the only Jaime I could think of was on an old comedy show called "Get Smart". Months later I got the joke, Jaime sounds like "I am me". He told someone else that was his name and I knew that. I laughed like nobody's business when I figured it out months later.

My regulars know my writing is usually a mess until you get to the end and see the conclusion I draw. Mr. Molyneux was talking to a person who believed in God because he had an experience. I don't believe in God because of the experience I had, I was believer before. One of the things that occurred to me while I was my experience was that we can only reach so high, to meet God he has to want to reach down to us and that means that we see something really scary to us. When yo meet God you see just how imperfect you are and it hits you hard. I don't believe anyone who says they spoke to God and didn't immediately feel shame for their imperfection. That shame is then overwhelmed by how much he loves us.

People tell me they would like to hear from God, NO they wouldn't. I didn't away from experience that I can at least prove to myself, thinking that I was holy. LOL. I didn't walk away thinking how great I was. I walked away wanting to do better and he didn't tell me what that was or what to do. That is the God I met, the one that told me it was okay to choose who I wanted to be. Mr. Molyneux wants a vengeful and controlling God. That is my answer to those who say they cannot believe in a God that allows evil in the world.

People don't want proof of God's existence, their existence is proof, sentience is proof, the universe is proof. God said it in the old testament, he doesn't need to talk to you to prove he exists, his proof is everything around you, all you observe and all you feel. God is the greatest sentience in the universe and he made us sentient and free to chose who we become and continue to become. He is the process that lets us grow, that lets us say I am me.

I believe spiritual experiences are individual and not proof that God exists except for the person who has it. I don't believe most people that claim to have them and I didn't believe the guy that Mr. Molyneux spoke to. I believe Mr. Molyneux wanted to believe the person in the video, I believe Mr. Molyneux would like proof of God. He already has it. Sentience is the proof of God, not what you see or experience, the fact that you see and experience. To prove there is not God, one must prove that they are the only sentience in the universe or prove they do not exist. Good luck with that.

I amazed when people try and control God or define him. I cannot and I met him. He joked with me and it took a couple of time to even believe that he told jokes. He deals with us as we able to be dealt with and only when we are able to deal with him. I think that means when we no longer hate. That's a tough one.

I will say this, if you wish proof of God to the extent where you need to communicate with him, you have to forgive every harm ever done you first and everyone that has cause harmed. That sounds difficult; but, it is only after that that you can forgive yourself for everyone you harmed. You have to accept that you are not perfect to accept that neither is anyone else, it is a paradox. You have to forgive all sin to help you to forgive your sin so that you can communicate with God. Why seek a world where forgiveness is unnecessary if forgiveness is the only way to accept all sentient beings as being of importance? Why believe that the only that can exist is Santa Clause bringing only joy to good little boys and girls. Why not accept that we chose to be good or not and that carrots and sticks used to make our decisions for us is preferable to choosing for ourselves?

I am amused by Christian and Atheists that believe that being chosen by God for anything means good times. LOL. I think the Jews are the chosen people, how is that working out for them? They were chosen for the concentration camps, they were chosen to be hated by the world. Even black Africans don't accept the Jews. I went to college with the educated blacks from Africa and a couple of them wanted to nuke Israel and had never met a Jew in their life. The Jews have been welcomed and thrived in three places, New York, Los Angeles and Israel. To be chosen by God is to be tested not given unlimited cookies. Jews give more to charity than other groups as a percentage of income.

Why do bad things happen to good people. There is none good but God. Show me that you are good or tell me a story like the Masons do how about you can become perfect, the unobtainable/ Show me how you are perfect and have never caused harm to another before you tell me how the world is bad because we are not all perfect or don't stop all imperfection.

We all wake up to a slap on the butt. We breath our first breath and try and figure out what it all means. We grow and begin to question. We are immediately beset upon by people trying to manipulate us to their advantage. Those benefitting the most from how things are spend the most effort trying to convince the rest of us that the world is fair, it is not. We can se that but try to find an explanation for it, to justify the world or figure out what needs to change. Nothing needs to change and it is unfair while we are growing. Growth is about defining ourselves faced with an unfair world. One does not grow when one is not tested and challenged to make real choices.

You can go 60 minutes into his video to hear what I am responding to.