"Dialogue With An Agnostic"

by WXAN & KMHM General Manager, Doug Apple

I recently wrote a column entitled “Live the Epic.”  I sent a copy of it to everyone on my e-mail list, many of whom are Christians, and many are not.  Soon afterward I received this response from “Jenny”:

I pondered that letter for a couple of days, prayed about it, then felt inspired one day to write back.  Here is the short version of my response:

Dear Ginny,

Thanks for responding… 

You mentioned going through your share of bad times.  Last night we sponsored a concert at the Murphysboro Apple Festival.  I met a woman whose husband and daughter both died in the last year.  Wow...

When I hear of sorrow like that I almost feel like I'm getting away with murder, my life has been so carefree by comparison.  Then sometimes I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing there is no such thing as a sorrow-free life.

Many times in my thinking and planning, I have to step back and look at the big picture...my foundation...things I know for sure.  Only then can I look closer at the details and the planning of my life.

For example, how do I raise my children?  How do I decide which job to work at?  How do I treat my wife?  How should I plan for the future?  These answers can be quite simple in the abstract...but what about when the going gets tough?  Or what about when you face a fork in the road, and ideals seem to go one way, and reality seems to be going the other?

I find myself stepping back and getting a larger view of things.  Here are some questions I go back and ask myself:

#1 - Is there a God?  A Creator?  A Being who is in charge? 

My answer to this question is very important.  If the answer is no, now what?  We all build our lives on a foundation.  Is it a solid foundation or a shifting foundation?  If there is no Master of the Universe, then what do I build on?  Who do I follow?  What is right and wrong?  What is good and evil?  What is the standard of measurement?  It cannot be "majority rules".  It cannot be whichever way the wind blows.  It cannot be whatever I feel like or whatever I think.  There must be a standard apart from people. 

I ask myself question number one, and my answer comes back, "Yes, there is a God."  To me creation is so complex in its design, there must be a creator.  It is just not logical to think something so marvelous happened by chance.  Marvelous things don't happen by chance.  Order does not happen by chance. Throw down three pennies, and what are the chances of them falling in a straight line?  That's only three pennies.  Now what are the chances of the multitude of life forms on Earth happening, the uniqueness of DNA, the variety and yet compatibility?  There must be a Maestro behind it all!  It's too wonderful!

So I affirm to myself once again that there is a God.  Then my next question:

#2 - Is our Creator the God of the Bible?

That's an interesting question, but I must go for now.  Write back if you find this dialogue interesting.  If not, that's O.K. too. 

Have a great day!

Doug