A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

I’ve said “Hello Kelly” about 400 times during the past 8 years, if my counting is correct. My debate with Kelly Scoles has kept me on my toes. Kelly is a worthy opponent and representative of the Democratic liberal left, while I’ve tried to represent the conservative side. Out of curiosity awhile back I determined that I have written more than a million words since Realilties was launched in 1989 with a Macintosh Plus. Though Realities began about two years earlier in Idaho, it finally landed in Fillmore, 30 miles from my birthplace.

In this week’s letter to the editor Kelly announced that, due to other obligations, she will only occasionally write her weekly letter. Like millions of others, the recent election has also left its imprint. I hope Kelly does not abandon her weekly messages altogether for I have greatly enjoyed our civil and open discourse; it has refreshed me as well over the years. It’s hard to believe our discussion has lasted 8 years! My hope is, even at a less frequent pace, our debate will continue. I am grateful as well that Kelly’s strong words “signaled her commitment to the First Amendment.” We know what this free exchange of opinion would cause in Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea. God bless and sustain our Constitution!
Kelly, I quickly recognize the hot points of your letter; the impression is familiar. I must admit that I’m somewhat worn out with my redundant defense. You are a classic liberal and I, an old-fashioned conservative. The crux of our disagreement lies in mystical understanding, in understanding or misunderstanding eternal things – in short, a belief or disbelief in God and his eternal plan. The decision to believe or not changes the entire playing field, all values and expectations. For example, what atheists believe to be extraterrestrial sentient beings, Christians believe to be demons.

While billions of people scoff at the idea of demons and the supernatural, those same people uncritically accept the idea of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings. The world has never existed without a belief in demons (evil) supernatural beings. But UFOS, et. al. have only been popularly accepted since H. G. Wells’ science fiction. For Judeo-Christians the truth is found only in Genesiss I:I, 26 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, ‘let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Another argument makes sense here, Pascal’s famous wager. (Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. God’s existence: “One should assume He exists. If God does not exist and one does not believe in him, nothing is gained. On the other hand, if God does exist and one does not believe in Him, everything is lost; if God does exist and one does believe in Him, everything is gained.”

Please remember I’m just offering my opinion in exchange for yours. Ultimately everything is simple for me; there is good and bad, eternal things and temporal, earthly things. Human creations are unique because they have unique eternal souls. In my opinion all the issues we have discussed here in the past 8 years have a moral basis and can be resolved by the application of Judeo-Christian criteria, i.e. abortion is intrinsically evil, and transgenderism is irrational.

The critical issue is the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. Without acknowledging this fact there are no answers, just sound and fury signifying nothing. Our ultimate success or failure in this life depends on faith, whether as urged by Pascal or upon sacred scripture which underlies that bet.

We have argued endlessly about facts, which should stand independently. You describe the election as “tsunami of political retrogression.” It seems to me that the election of Donald Trump has set us free of political retrogression, like open borders, the surge in crime, and a host of other Woke idiocies.

But my worries have not abated because we are heading into global war. Most of Trump’s Cabinet appointments are excellent while others bother me. It’s a huge mistake to leave Mike Pompeo out of the mix, while strong as Pete Hegseth is he lacks the depth of experience of Pompeo for Defense Secretary. Big mistake. As for protecting women, every normal man has in his DNA the protection of women, a naturally good thing insufficiently exercised.

My greatest concern – a deadly abandonment of Ukraine which will inevitably doom Europe, then the world, to war of unprecedented destruction. The stench of Free World weakness is in the nostrils of the wolfish, Jihadist-Communist enemy.
But I agree, “The people have made their choice.”