The Value of a God
Does having a god provide the human species any value?
In the Spring of 1979, my 30th and my fathers 64th I was standing next to my Dad’s bed in the ICU of my hometown hospital. This was dad’s 3rd heart attack and to that date the worst, he would spend at least two weeks in the ICU unit. Only one person was allowed to visit at a time so I was there alone holding dad’s hand as we were talking. I don’t recall how the subject came about, but he said to me “Jim I don’t know that I believe in god anymore.” To understand how that affected me and why it has stuck with me, you need to know how religious dad was. He served as both a lector and eucharistic minister in our catholic church for years. He raised six children in the faith. Dad came home after that stint in the ICU, and decided to take accumulated sick and vacation leave up to the end of Dec. 1979 when he could officially retire. One day in late August I received a call from Mom saying she needed me. I rushed home and saw dad being loaded into an ambulance I hopped in and grabbed hold of his hand. On the way to the hospital with siren blaring I felt life exit my father as it moved slowly out of his hand and up his arm. Once at the hospital I watched his body jump as they attempted to revive him. I knew it was no use.
This is not a discussion about whether or not a god exist. I certainly don’t have that answer. I am trying to find an answer to the following question. Is there and has there been any value to having a god? A question I think we should all ask.
What would the world be like now if the concept of a god never existed?
Does good, compassion, love, charity, and kindness exist only because there is a God?
Is selfishness, evil, hate, murder and war held at bay because there is a god?
How many atheist have started wars?
Do we still need a God? Last week I posted 12 tenets which if followed would certainly improve society. Do we need a god to be good people? If so Why? Why can’t we be good kind and loving all by ourselves. Surely a God wouldn’t mind would it? Or did it purposely make us so weak that we have to have a bunch of Gods to behave? Can’t we judge ourselves good or bad and send ourselves to a heaven or hell? Why bother a God at all? He could still exist if that’s what you desire. If you need someone other than yourself to please.
Back to my original question. What value does a God any God have?
Has he made mankind better, kinder, more loving through all his various religions?
Maybe the fact that 12 of those 12 tenets I posted came from various religions prove the value of a God. Or does that just prove the value of the people that founded those various religions. Does it matter?
For myself, I don’t believe we need a god to exist to be good or to define good.
Maybe it’s time to admit we can do it ourselves!
1. Do Not Kill or Harm Others Unjustly
2. Do Not Steal
3. Do Not Lie (Value Truthfulness)
4. Do Not commit Adultery
5. Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You (Golden Rule)
6. Care for the Poor, Weak, and Vulnerable (Compassion and Charity)
7. Practice Forgiveness and Mercy
8. Practice Humility and Avoid Pride
9. Strive for Inner Purity or Self-Control
10. Be Grateful / Live with Contentment
11. Respect Parents and Elders
12. Respect and care for Nature
Rollie and Rhonda
Only the debate club idea stuck around; he enjoyed talking, took pride in being called "Popular" by his classmates, even after he was no longer a tennis star. Nick had always been able to convince friends to join him in whatever activity he fancied.
Leaving competitive tennis had left a void. Nick's parents had successfully passed that trait on to their son.
End of chapter 20
Chapter 21
It was at the very first meeting of the Wildwood High Debate Club that Nick Reilly met Wally Grosvenor and Jefferson Wilding. All three were freshmen; all three were there at the urging of their parents.
Wally at 15 was 5'4" and weighed 180 lbs, freckled-faced and wore glasses. Since kindergarten, he had looked the same, just shorter. The Wally you saw at 6 was the Wally you would see at 36. It would not have been unusual if Wally had suffered teasing or even bullying simply because of his appearance as he entered the world of school. But from somewhere, though, Wally had received the gift of humor and self-confidence. He knew all he had to do was to make people laugh, and they would forget that he was short, freckled, fat, and wore glasses.
Wally wasn't against the idea of joining the debate club; he didn't think it of any value. The Grosvenor family had caught the latest genealogy craze and delved into the Grosvenor side of the family tree. They were excited to find that they were related to the same family, whose name originated in England and dated back to the Norman Conquest. So excited were they that the family took a trip they had to borrow money for and explored their family roots on the ground in England. Learning of their relation to influential British politicians, past and present, and visiting the iconic Grosvenor Square in London sent them back home feeling that they were part of a wealthy family with a noble tradition. Arriving home, they proudly installed a plaque with a gilded Grosvenor family crest to the left of their front entrance door. Wally's father, Harold Grosvenor, was convinced that discovering the rich heritage, both figuratively and literally, of his family was a sign of greatness to come, at least for his soon-to-be 16-year-old son. He realized his son's greatness would have to come from within; unfortunately, Wally could have been Harold's clone. But Wally had one advantage that most did not. Kids wanted to be around him; they gravitated towards him, not away as appearances would suggest. It was Harold who saw politics as a means for Wally to enter a world that a Grosvenor should occupy.
Jefferson Tiggens didn't have a competitive family or a prestigious name to motivate a father or mother into pushing him towards the debate club. It was Jefferson himself who joined. It was, though, because of and for his mother that he did.
Dorthea Tiggins was and always had been a single parent. Fate had brought Jefferson's father's foot to a land mine in Afghanistan before Jefferson had even been pushed out of Dorthea's womb. Jefferson wanted to make his mother proud; he wanted her to think of him in the same glowing terms she always spoke of his father with. A father he never knew, a ghost he had to live up to. Jefferson wanted to be rich; he had ideas. Even at 16, he knew that having an idea was one thing; expressing and selling that idea was another. He knew he would have to be convincing; what better way was there to learn than the debate club?
It is not at all unusual in high school to see groups of three, four, or five young boys or girls hanging together regularly. Frequently, these groups will be similar physically, socially, or athletically. Many times, they had known each other since grade school, but it was a different story when they saw the threesome of Nick Reilly, Jefferson Wilding, and Wally Grosvenor. Seeing them together, you would feel it as strange as if you saw a cat, dog, and pig lolling around together in a barnyard. Nick, tall, athletic, and with a Mediterranean complexion; Jefferson, of medium height, thin with sandy hair; and Wally, overweight, short, and freckled with red hair. But they clicked the moment they met and would spend the next three years spending a great deal of time together on and off the debate stage.
It was the second year of the debate club and their sophomore year of high school when the rumor began its journey through Wildwood High. An older girl, maybe even a woman, was having sex with senior boys. No one knew for sure just who the boys were or the name of the girl/woman. But it was real; everybody confirmed it. It wasn't long before a name emerged, Stefanie Runnels. No one, at least among the debate club team members, had ever heard of her before. Maybe she was a grown woman or possibly a dropout. Jefferson suggested to both Wally and Nick that they ask some girls if they knew Stefanie. Nick laughed and said, Sure, let's ask the next girl we see. I can hear it now: "Hey, excuse me, do you know Stefanie Runnels? The guys and I would like to meet her."
A year and a half of debate club had brought the three a closeness that removed some of the natural teenage boy inhibitions. They didn't need to lie to each other, unlike their classmates. With the topic of the easy "Lay" being the talk of the school, each of the three admitted they were virgins and would like to remedy the condition.
It didn't turn out to be as easy as they imagined; they sought upperclassmen to locate Stephanie, but with no luck. Some, including the seniors, claimed they had had her but would not share with a lowly sophomore. Nick's frustration with those arrogant seniors aroused his competitive nature. "We will find our own Stephanie Runnels." With that, the three-person debate team started their competition, a competition they vowed to continue through and on past high school.
End of chapter 21
Todays co-inhabitant
addax, (Addax nasomaculatus), the most desert-adapted African antelope, formerly found throughout most of the Sahara but nearly exterminated in the wild in the last quarter of the 20th century by poaching from motorized vehicles. The addax’s most striking feature is its long spiral horns.
Todays Irritation
Pharmaceutical companies.
Watched a commercial this morning for TD - Tardive dyskinesia (involuntary repetitive body movements, which may include grimacing, sticking out the tongue and rapid blinking. (all the same things I do when I hear someone say-pharmaceutical company) These movement in others are reactions to medications given for mental disorders. My investigators are researching that same PC (I can only type the whole two words once a day or my TD kicks in) they are researching to see if the mental disorders that cause the TD are side effects of another drug made by the same company.
Todays pleasure
Psoriasis, I have had a patch of it on my right knee cap for at least thirty years. Every so often , maybe 3-4 times a year it flares up, it itches and feels warm to the touch. The pleasure is that I get to scratch it.
Stop right there, this is not a precursor to masochism.
you need the back story. From the time I was six until I was sixteen I used to get Poison ivy frequently. It took me those ten years to learn and gain enough willpower not to scratch like hell. One time I scratched it so much It got infected and I had a scab from my inner wrist up past my elbow onto my forearm. As mentioned I did learn and have not had a problem since. So that is my pleasure. I can scratch it and enjoy that delectable feeling and then after a week or so the psoriasis goes back into hiding.
Next Post 7/26/2025
Acquaintances - a novel
Combining Fact and Fiction
It’s 1972. Four travelers, a 15-year-old emancipated Danish orphan, and three 23-year-olds, including an Italian wannabe seminarian, a skinny American hippy, and a beautiful French law student, meet on a patch of grass at the border of Switzerland and Italy. Combining four adventures into one, they set off together on a journey that will test their courage and question their identities as they encounter riots, train bombings, a crazy Hungarian defacing a world-famous sculpture, a priest seeking fame, and a man determined to kill one of them.
The paperback and eBook editions are available on Amazon
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Democracy Destroyers
Trumpet Puppets tells the story of 32 American citizens and institutions that are destroying the soul (Democracy) of our country. These Puppets are following in the footsteps of our 45th president. They are achieving this by creating false realities. This book introduces a concept called the Acceleration Defect, which was created by the internet and pushed along by social media. These false realities are creating a division that is leading us to an authoritarian leader and civil war. I explain how and why this is occurring. Two ideas, the first called Wary Words and the second Voter Vows, are put forth as tools to assist us in educated voting and detecting false reality creation. Dispersed among the Puppets are stories mixing fact and fiction. Some humorous, some sad. In addition, there are tongue-in-cheek tips for an upcoming civil war, old people tips for people like myself and one male anatomy tip. Also included are a few confessions from the author.
The paperback and E-book versions are available on Amazon
click the link below to purchase