You don't have to believe in me ...my Dad & Mom do, and so does my wife and our children.

As usual, some believe ...and some don't believe. That seems to be always the case. But, what is the justification for each??

We can't see the wind, but we can see the spectacular effect of it ...and it does exist.  We observe how it can fill a sail to carry us to paradises unknown, or tear the roof off a shelter. Yes, it can be rather constructive, or sadly destructive.

Do I live by the salt of the earth, or do I like the salty sea ...and what I can see??  Do I merely enjoy sailing, or rather do I live opportunistically?? 

Who am I, besides being me?

And am I one person on one day, and another the next??  Am I who I want to be, or do I become who I don't want to be??

Can I be whoever I want to be?  After all, I have choice.

Perhaps today I choose to be a pirate.  Do I imagine all this, or is it real??

Are the following reasons sufficient enough not to believe in me??

• It is possible that I am not real ...some of the signs point to the belief that I may just have been created. (You think possibly ...computer generated??)
• Pirates are of a different character and type ...and I don't sound like a pirate, but more like a suffering philosopher.  And a bad one at that.  In comparison, Rene Descartes, considered the Father of Modern Philosophy, once said, "I think; therefore I am."  But, I say, "I think; therefore I blog." There should be some criteria consideration here ...don't want to blog you down.
• The world population is approaching seven and a half billion people. With that many people in existence, how relevant or true is my existence??

Yes, how relevant??

It's been said, but bears repeating: to my parents, and my wife & our children ...yes, I am relevant.  But, to you I perhaps don't need to be.  And furthermore, you may find no reason to care to challenge my existence, either way.  I perhaps mean nothing to you ...and it doesn't seem to matter.  If I insist upon the fact that I exist, you may find no reason to doubt that ...but on the other hand, you find no reason to put forth any great effort to believe it either. 

But, wait!  There are always countless negative reasons to believe also.

If you think I may be a pirate, you may not like imagining what the implication of that may mean.  You may run with that thought through your mind, and image that I'm ...or may likely be mean. You may already have set biases against all pirates, after all, isn't the definition of a pirate ...a thief??

And there is no sense trying to have a rational conversation with me.  You'll never change my mind ...you may only end up walking the plank.

So, pirates ...thieves ...they're all the same.

If a thief exists, the thief could break into your house. But, you could have a German Shepherd ...like we do.

But, what if your dog just happens to be vacationing at the time ...with our dog, in the Bahamas?  You may say, you have more than one dog though.  Well, so do we ...but, there is always an internal struggle between loyalty and jealousy.  If one dog gets to take a vacation, then all dogs might want one.

This may sound all too ridiculous, but it probably does to a thief also.  Why would anyone send their dogs on vacation without them going too?

So, the thief enters your home ...reasoning that very thing, that since the dogs aren't home, you aren't either.  But, you are.

You, or one of your family members gets hurt ...badly. Perhaps you'd like to believe the thief doesn't exist.

You are angry, and rightfully so ...so, perhaps you are not thinking as clearly as you can. How could this all happen? There was supposed to be a police officer patrolling the area at this time, so the thief wouldn't have been able to do what he did ...it would have been prevented.  Unless there was no police officer there.

Perhaps the police officer doesn't exist.

I want to believe in the police officer, but I don't want to believe in the thief ...maybe I'd be better off not to believe in either one. I'd be better off that way.

Of course, we all get disappointed ...we all have reason to get upset ...and we all get angry. And usually it's not from a thief entering our home.  It's from the humanness of those rightfully residing there ...yes, we also get angry with our professed 'loved ones'.

A blind trust is seldom advisable.  And we often trust someone only because others trust that person, without getting to know them for ourselves. But, with a loved one, it is different. A loved one likely believes in you more ...yet, stands more of a chance of being hurt.

A loved one: "I trusted you!  I believed in you!"

Other loved one: "Let me explain!"

But, there are no explanations forthcoming ...because a person who is upset usually also doesn't want to listen.

Don't know if you ever heard of Occam's razor ...

It states, "Other things being equal, simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones."

In the Old West, they often kept things simple ...and the understanding of the so-called law was that the people will get restless if it takes too long to find the person who committed the crime, so often someone was hauled in who was usually in trouble, or whom no one felt would be missed if convicted of the crime.  Justice was often a secondary concern ...second to keeping the peace, which often meant that peace would come by the way of an unfair trial.  The voice of the people accounted for much.

If a crime was committed, and I was the only one seen at the scene of the crime ...my assumed guilt becomes a rather simple explanation.  But, if I am innocent, the simpler explanation would not be the better one. In that case, I'd think the Occam's razor was shaving me too close, and I'd opt for a good lawyer who could come up with more complex thinking.

If I was convicted of something I didn't do, it would be as if I didn't exist ...like I wasn't here. After all, I wouldn't be here for quite some time ...as I'd be doing my time.

Speaking of not existing, or not being here ...it reminds me of a routine by Abbott & Costello: (Now, I will probably get it a bit wrong, as I do with most things, but let's give it a try.)

Abbott approaches a stranger, "I bet I can prove to you that I'm not here."

Stranger: "You've got yourself a bet."

Abbott: "Okay, we'll both put up twenty."

The stranger holds out his twenty dollar bill to match Abbott's, "Okay, here's my twenty."

Abbott: "Okay, but I need your help. I don't know what city I'm in ...am I in Boston?"

Stranger: "No."

Abbott: "Am I in Philadelphia?"

Stranger: "No."

Abbott: "Am I in New York?"

Stranger: "No."

Abbott: "So, this isn't Boston and it's not Philadelphia and we're not in New York ...I was sure I took the right train, but I must be someplace else."

Stranger: "That's right."

Abbott: "Well, if you just admitted that I'm someplace else, then I can't be here." And Abbott grabs the stranger's twenty dollars.

Stranger: "Does that dummy over there know that one?"

Abbott: "No."

Stranger walks over to Costello, and says, "I bet I can prove to you that I'm not here."

Costello: "You've got yourself a bet."

Stranger: "Okay, we'll both put up twenty."

Costello holds out his twenty dollar bill to match the stranger's, "Okay, here's my twenty."

Stranger: "Okay, but I need your help. I don't know what city I'm in ...am I in Boston?"

Costello: "No."

Stranger: "Am I in Philadelphia?"

Costello: "No."

Stranger: "Am I in New York?"

Costello: "No."

Stranger: "Well, if I'm not in Boston and I'm not in Philadelphia and I'm not in New York, then I messed up and I must be someplace else."

Costello: "That's right."

Stranger: "Well, if you just admitted that I'm someplace else, I can't be here." And the stranger grabs Costello's twenty dollars.

Costello quickly grabs his twenty dollar bill back, along with the stranger's twenty.

Stranger: "Hey, I won that fair and square."

Costello: "You just agreed you weren't in Boston, Philadelphia, or New York. You said you must be someplace else. And when I agreed, you said you just proved to me that you aren't here ...so I couldn't have just taken your money, because you aren't here."

Many people say that God is not here ...

They try to find reasons why they believe God does not exist.

They mostly say they don't care if we believe in God, they just don't like to be labeled as doubters ...because they feel we are the biggest doubters, in not believing in evolution.

Evolution is perhaps the biggest argument frequented in any discussion about how we got here.  And trust me, I'm not trying to take your twenty dollars.  We'll both need as much sense as we can get if any of us are going to get anywhere.

In discussions on this topic, the evolutionists are usually the ones who depart most from Occam's razor ...and no, not all of them have beards, though they do often take the appearance of philosophers.  And they do attempt to go on ...and on, trying to provide an overwhelming and abundance of evidence.

But, that's okay, I don't feel Occam's razor is a valid principle enough to cover all topics ...so why even state it as sufficient to mention at all.  We know there are times to simply approach things, and for other situations complexity is a necessity. How do we know when to apply which?  Well, we don't always know. But, God knows ...and God is both simple and complex.

God could give us all the complex facts, yet His goal is not to overwhelm us ...it is to communicate with us.  And He did that rather simply by sending us His Son ...Jesus.

One proclaimed atheist said that Jesus used to be his hero. He saw Jesus as kind to everyone ...and he admired the stance that Jesus took in not bending to peer pressure, not tolerating cruelty, and not bowing to tyranny.

Yes, he felt Jesus was great ...but, Christians are too judgmental, and their view of sin places too much of a burden on people. And it seems unfair why God doesn't intervene ...being all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. Why does He have so much power, yet we have the mentally ill ...terminally ill ...deadly diseases ...and all forms of violence and suffering?? 

Why doesn't God eliminate evil?

We ask that, yet we also say we oppose all this overabundance of punishment, especially the view of eternal punishment.

Seems like a lot of criticism and emotion spent on someone they say they don't believe in ...sort of seems a little like the Abbott& Costello routine.

Then ...for those who feel it's fine that we believe in God, they mostly say, just don't infringe upon or push our views upon them.  They also say they understand we are just weak, and we need to believe ...to keep our hope alive.

Weak, is what I consider any argument that says that something can come from nothing ...while ignoring everything spiritual which would explain it.  The physical laws help us understand what God put in motion for our benefit ...but, those laws do not explain how we first came into existence.

One source praised science, with the assertion that it does not discriminate ...that it knows what it knows.  But, I must assert that though you may feel that science does not discriminate ...those who selectively publish and distribute it do.

Reading another reference, a historian stated that there are 2,870 recorded deities.  Further, he stated that as a proclaimed atheist he is not that much different than a Christian.  He said a Christian believes there are 2,869 false deities ...and he only believes there is one more fraud, completing the full list.  A very clever way of stating that ...but, of no substance.  

The Multi-State Lottery Association has a game called Powerball ...which recently reached 1.5 billion dollars. Countless more than 2,870 people played the lottery, with hopes to win ...thinking perhaps they could then live like a deity. But, you couldn't just say you won ...you had to produce a winning ticket, and three people did this.  Yes, only three were the big winners.  Many more were likely whiners.

And yes, of the 2,870 deities ...well, I only believe in three. Yet, the three are One (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).  The difference is, we can all be winners.

But, it cost more than 1.5 billion to purchase eternity, where there will be no more of that suffering ---the kind many of you say an all-powerful Supreme Being would not allow ---and it will not exist in that place reserved for eternity. The cost has already been paid, by the death of Jesus. 

So, if and when you perchance blame God, remember that He sent His Son ...with full knowledge that He would be tormented, violently beaten, and crucified.  Afterwards many of the apostles were also crucified ...and today, many die as they proclaim their love of Jesus.  Our all-powerful, all-knowing God has not stopped it ...but, He will.

You want to choose not to believe ...you will not be forced to think otherwise. And most of you insist upon that freedom.  The fact that you are voicing your concern, and perhaps disagreeing with me ...proves you want a choice.  And it also proves you are not a robot ...and you do exist, and are here.  Like I said, keep your twenty bucks.

But, the reason this earth is not like the heaven you may think it should be (which may be one of your biggest grievances against believing in God) ...is because the choice does exist.  And it is not just the choice of a peaceful atheist, or an arrogant Christian ...the choice also exists for the violent tyranny, the angry terrorist, and the violent crime in your neighborhood.

If we asked for God to eliminate all evil ...we either would be robots without choice, or we may all have at that point wished for our own demise.  We all probably struggle with that little evil and that little good ...the departure, and those back and forth inconsistent choices. Ebb and flow, crest and trough ...all natural to the cycle of life. But, some things are more than cycles ...they are progressions.  And if we travel away from what God has directed for us ...we are simply exercising our freedom of choice, and the distance becomes that very separation of which is called sin.  Yet, let us also be careful not to blame the existence of choice ...we all want it.  

Now, we must decide whether we want Him.