Could this tendency to try and understand every single physical nuance and chemical action possibly be another red herring? I ask this honestly and humbly, without a sense of mean intent, because it would seem that, in that I have not learned the skills or the vocabulary to deduce what goes on in every aspect of this physical world, you may think I have a "sour grapes" view. I can't always understand everything Richard Dawkins and other scientists/atheists try to tell me, because I am, at times, ignorant of even the terminology they sometimes use. The sour grapes view, of course, is that if I can't reach those grapes (or can't understand what the scientist is saying), then the grapes must be sour anyway. That is not the attitude I want to have, and I don't think I do. The concepts the scientists share may very well include some sweet grapes hanging there. I am, however, grateful that my awareness of scientific definitions and principles is not necessary for physical truths and laws to operate. I am grateful that there are people who understand this physical world, developing medicines, vaccines and pills to help us pull through what ails us. I enjoy my computer, and am grateful for the development of the microchip, though I do not know how it works. The same could be said of my automobile⁹.

One thing I can say is that we are not born with inbred knowledge that is scientifically complicated, nor are we born with inbred knowledge that is scientifically easy to understand. I believe we are born with the ability to suckle, in hopes that we might be placed in such a position as to receive sustenance and not just suckle air. Over time, with the development of our minds, mere physical suckling was not enough for us. We needed a pattern that we could follow so that we could begin to make sense out of this life, into which we had found ourselves thrust. So we watched our parents, or our guardians or our neighbors or babysitter or our teachers. Different people influenced us and helped to set up what our life's work might be. We went from suckling air, to suckling milk, and then we began to take in knowledge of those around us. As we grew, and matured, we began to throw off some of what others had taught us, and to look deeper into what was beginning to coalesce in our minds, making sense to us and giving us a sense of purpose and understanding as to what we were and what we were to be in our lives. Some of us "find ourselves," but thankfully others find Christ.

For Professor Dawkins (and a minority of others in this human race), the idea that there is a God became ludicrous and impossible to embrace. The milk of his life, what he suckled into his mind, and what nourished him, was the physical appearances, the focus on some sort of natural selection, the process of changing or mutating genes, the cells and membranes and all the things his five senses could grasp. For me, having been raised in the traditional Christian environment, I found God to be a fascinating concept (even though I couldn't always tell if He was active in my life—until much later). God, then, went from a concept to a reality, through Jesus. My faith in His existence was real and, over time (it was many years in fact) before I sincerely realized I wasn't just suckling air—but something of substance, I was receiving manna from heaven, I was receiving spiritual wisdom--not of my own making. He (God) began to show me (because I believed) that my method of suckling was giving me something I could really love with all my heart—Himself, the ultimate provider of life's True Milk. I wish the atheist could feel that, beyond this physical life, there is a spiritual life that is quite wonderful—even more so than all the scientific facts in the world.

I cannot tell if atheists feel satisfaction and joy in what they are currently trying to absorb into their lives. It sounds as if Dawkins gets a lot of satisfaction from his study of chemistry, his teaching of classes, his goal to help people be cut loose from the "bondage" of belief in God. I'm certain he wouldn't be doing that if he didn't believe it was worthwhile. But the sarcasm and critical tone of his book convinces me he is in deep, hidden pain.

I, too, feel a strong calling. I want people to know God. The real one. He is not a waste of time, to me. Nor is He that hard to find. He is no respecter of persons and eagerly reveals His truth to the simple minds as well as the brilliant ones. As we reach toward Him, He reaches toward us. If we don't reach toward Him, He waits, longingly, for us. The things of the physical world and the traits of the spiritual are often explained in the Bible in these terms: Mammon (things of the world) and God (things of God's Spirit). In the Word, God says we can't love both mammon (the world) and God, we either love the first one and hate the second one (or, reversing it, love the second one and hate the first one). There is no allowance for middle ground, here.

We cannot have our focus on both the things of the physical and the things of the spiritual. Attempting to do that, and many do, leads to an immensely weak, lukewarmness, with regard to our purpose and calling in life. In another place in the Bible, Jesus says through John's Revelation, that He would rather people be either cold or hot, but not lukewarm. Jesus was dictating a letter to the church of Laodicea, which, according to the Believer's Bible Commentary, was neither cold nor hot, but sickeningly lukewarm. Laodicea means either the people ruling or judgment of the people. Many I've talked to, believe we are living in a church of Laodicean age, for our time is characterized by pride, ignorance (of spiritual things), self-sufficiency, and complacency. From the Bible, enjoy this:

Rev 3:15 I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!
Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!
Rev 3:17 For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. [Hos. 12:8.]
Rev 3:18 Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.
Rev 3:19 Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude]. [Prov. 3:12.]
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me. (AMP)

Personally, I am very grateful that the things God created of the physical nature seem to work just fine, without my knowing the name of every part and the nature of the chemical interactions these parts have. I get dizzy just thinking about trying to keep track of all that information. Adam probably got pretty tired naming all the animals, too. As I think about God and I think about science, I can see how easy it is to get caught up in all the chemical terminology, to the point where we could easily forget about God and all the wonder of things mysterious. When we think we must know everything of the physical, though, we have closed the door on knowing things eternal—for, as I stated, the Word says it is human nature to love either God OR mammon (things of the world) but not both. Though it is easier to think that everything we need to know is only found in the physical environment, and we prefer to pack it all in a neat little box which we label reality, by doing this we are focusing on a red herring. The physical reality takes our attention away from the truth for, as I said earlier, we are spiritual beings, not solely physical beings. When we focus only on the physical, we cannot hear Jesus, standing at the door in our minds and hearts, knocking. It is this door, which we open by our faith, that allows Him to enter and which leads us into truth. There is no other way, nor is there another truth.

I am so sorry that religion (God's platform here on earth) has presented its red herrings also. Men, who are interested in power and performance, have taken hold of the reigns of many religious organizations, and have beguiled their congregations with confusing and inconsistent church doctrines and complicated infrastructures that pull attention away from true religion. True religion teaches people to hunger for God, to repent of past and present sins, and learn to personally hear God's will by His Holy Spirit, all the while encouraging prayerful reading of God's Word, the Bible, for confirmation that they are hearing the Lord correctly. After this, the church must encourage that God's will be done in each of its members, even as it prompts some to move into their own God-ordained ministry.

Leaders should truly hunger after the lost, not for the sake of nickels and numbers, but for the interest of their souls, alone. How simple this is, but how complicated we make it. If a Christian church is focusing on food, church bazaars, food, socials, entertainment, food and sports, then many red herrings are wiggling and squirming their way via the church doors, into this world that is already filled with too many of its own distractions and temptations. The church should be completely free of any worldly functionality. (Did I say food?) The world already teaches much about itself. We don't need to know more about it. The church belongs to God and it should teach only about Him and His ways. The problem is a focus issue. The church is often led by men who have no heart for God, could care less about the lost, and are mainly interested in finding financial security. They do this by appealing to the masses who are only interested in hearing what tickles their ears and doing only what does not interfere with their personal plans. None involved in this "lukewarm" fiasco, love God with all of their hearts, nor do they love each other as they love themselves.

Meanwhile, many people have lost interest in the church because of this foolishness. The church has become lackadaisical, wishy-washy, and a mockery of the early church which was led by the apostles and others (although seeds of impurity had been sewn by Satan, even from the Church's beginning). It is no wonder people, like Richard Dawkins and other atheists, have become disillusioned with God. Truly a revival is needed. We need bold Christian pastors who proclaim the truth with zeal, not bending to the sway of fickle public opinion, as they firmly but lovingly uphold God's standards.

9. From Eva, my wife: "The writer of The God Delusion assigns immoral characteristics to genetics. If this is true, I can't help but wonder why this brilliant scientist with this marvelous understanding doesn't use his energy and resources to isolate and remove genes of selfishness, murder, hate, immorality, depression and replace them with genes of love, joy, morality, compassion and rid this earth of the woes of mental illness, suicide and other results of negative genetic codes or material, for as long as these self-serving survivalist genes continue to wreak havoc upon mankind, there needs to be the 'fix' that, apparently, religion offers. Why does he insist upon making the removal of religion his priority, when it (particularly Christianity) is the best governor of people of such defective selfish genes? It has been my observation that the transformation which occurs when one is 'born again' in Jesus Christ, is the quickest and most effective change of one's genes from selfish to unselfish and it doesn't require years of scientific study or millions of dollars worth of grants to accomplish. Right now Christianity provides the only control over someone's selfish genes. Shouldn't the author be working on finding a way to manipulate those genes, rather than eradicating religion?" Back.

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