We get emails

I was the surprised recipient of a few personal emails about my recent posting, “Confession: I am a hypocrite.” One comment that I made in that article was the focus of several of these reader responses.

This is what I wrote: “I am not a churchgoer. My belief in any god ranges between a being a raging agnostic and an unconvinced atheist.”

Here are some examples of the responses I got (cleaned up a tad):

“Don’t you know that you are supposed to capitalize the name of God?”

“If you were a churchgoer, then you could be neither an agnostic nor an atheist. Start going to church and God will give you your answer.”

“You better start believing in Heaven and Hell. At your age you will soon find yourself in one or the other.”

“You don’t pray? No wonder God doesn’t talk to you.”

There was one interesting comment about my reluctance to buy American made automobiles:

“Don’t you know that Toyota Camry is made right here in America? How can you put down cars built by Americans when you are driving one?”

And finally this interesting comment:

“Until I read your comments about Bill Maher, I too watched him almost every time his show was on HBO. I watched his last show of the season the other night and I have to admit, you were absolutely right in everything you said. I don’t think I will be able to ever watch him again without thinking of your article.”

Let me try to clear up a few things:

If I felt there was any god (lowercase includes all unspecified “gods”) at all, then we probably wouldn’t even think about god that much, similar to the way we acknowledge “Mother Nature.” I am neither an “antagonistic agnostic” or “anti-theist atheist.” I also choose to let you, the reader, make your own choice of supreme beings.

As to the ancient Hebrew god (AKA “God” – capitalized, The LORD, Jehovah, Adonai, Elohim, Yahweh) of the Jews and Christians (and, AKA Allah of Islam), why would he force us to choose between such a huge number of religions all claiming that they are the only one that is true and inspired by Him? And for our guidance in these critical matters, why would he leave only a confusing collection of ancient texts (and some not so ancient) that are contradictory and full of confusing images and allegory? And then, if we are unfortunate to have chosen any of the wrong religions, cast us forever into a lake of fire or doom us to some other form of eternal damnation?

“Holy Crapshoot, Batman!”

If there really is a god (God), I think he would be a lot more loving, far more precise and clear about what we should believe (if he even cares what we believe), and simply unconcerned about how many “Hail Marys” we say, how many candles we burn in his honor, or what translation of the Bible we prefer to read. I also doubt that he cares whether we wear a particular hat or turban – or not, or if we shave our beards or backs. I bet he doesn’t give a damn if we drive a car or push a doorbell on Saturdays.

Sorry, I just don’t buy any of that theocratic horse manure. I’ll take my chances, choose not to worry about god (or God), and just enjoy my life.

A couple of loose ends:

My Toyota was built in Japan in 1995. I lost faith in General Motors automobiles after many years of very bad luck driving several models of their pride and joy, Cadillac. I had four of them (plus a few Chevy’s and a Pontiac or two) before I finally gave up on GM forever. This was not easy for me because my father was a GM mechanic for most of his working years. Maybe Caddies are better now, but I will wait until the consumer magazines stop rating them lower than Hyundai.

I think that Bill Maher has his moments. His performances can be impressive when he’s following a script or reading a prompter. I think he aspires to be another George Carlin, but he is clearly aiming too high. He might be better if he became a comic version of Bill Moyers, using his intelligence and natural wit to converse with celebrities and politicians on a one-to-one basis, spending more time listening than just telling lame, and often unfunny, jokes.

One last item of note: I did not receive a single comment about what I said about President Obama. Maybe I can sneak in an article about health care reform without worrying about being tarred and feathered by my Republican neighbors.