The Pope, the Coauthor of my E-mail Articles

by Raymond Fontaine Ph.D. - July 2005

E-mail no.6: The Pope's Inquires about my Intent

    Greetings from my den in the Vatican. I enjoyed our last exchange of ideas. I'm glad that you did not hesitate to differ from my view on Mary's Assumption and Papal infallibility. I don't like a yes-man kowtowing to me no matter what I say. I am not infallible 24 hours a day year-round. Like Pope John Paul 2, I may never evoke and exercise my infallible charisma. Like everyone else, I get my information from my fellow-creatures, including people like you - seekers and speakers of the truth. 

     I would like to know why you chose me, the Pope of the Catholic Church, to be the coauthor of your e-mail articles. Was it to attract attention to your collection and increase its prestige? No matter, I'll gladly continue collaborating with you to glorify God as revealed in nature. He's my God too. 

    Before answering my question above, please remind me why you are writing this collection of e-mails. As you well know, people our age, when memory slowly slips away, need to be reminded more frequently. Now, I'll let you go and await your answer. Don't be long. Your friend, Benedict. 

E-mail no.7: My reason for Choosing the Pope to Coauthor my E-mails Lauding Nature's God.   

    If you read my book, you must remember that, during five decades, I enjoyed a wonderful life. It was inspired by the doctrines of the Catholic Church. I loved its beautiful liturgy, especially the Mass. The feast days of Christmas and Easter and of the Saints inspired my life.

    For others to enjoy my good fortune, I decided to share my thoughts and beliefs with as many people as possible. To do that, I became a priest. Every Sunday during Mass, I preached the message of Jesus as revealed in the Gospel reading of the day. In 1962 I went to Uganda, Africa and spent five years preaching the doctrine of the Church. In short, during the first half of my life, I not only believed in God as revealed in the Bible; I also shared my beliefs with thousands of people. 

    Later, after much reflection, I no longer believed in God as revealed in the Bible. So I left the Church and the priesthood retaining, however, my belief in God as revealed in Nature. The designs in Nature, I realized, required a Designer of supreme intelligence. I also realized that God expected his creatures to exploit their full potential, getting help from their environment, including humankind and giving help to their neighbors.

    With that conviction, I volunteered to help thousands of Vietnamese refugees during the war. Later I found employment that provided deep wells near the Sahara desert for masses of people. Then I worked in a daycare center for pre-school toddlers. I enjoyed life. 

    I owed my happiness to my natural view of life. God created the universe that developed into a beautiful world. He lets us exploit our potential, getting help from and giving help to our fellow creatures. 

    Earlier as a priest, believing the revelation of God in the Bible, I shared my beliefs in sermons and lectures. Now, believing in God not as revealed in the Bible but as revealed in Nature, I try to share my new view of life in print and on-line. I first wrote a book in 2000. Since then I have been writing articles and publishing them on-line.

    Recently I decided to publish my new view in the format of e-mails between myself and someone else. He would represent God as revealed in the Bible while I would present God  as revealed in nature. 

    For very good reasons, I chose you because you know better than anyone else what the Church teaches about the revelation of God in the Bible. 

    You also believe, like me, that God is revealed as supremely intelligent in the designs of nature. You have no problem with this sole tenet of Deism.  

    You also know where I come from because we shared a common life with the same beliefs and similar activities, such as saying Mass and preaching the Gospel. We celebrated the same feast days and believed in heaven. I understand you and you understand me. 

    Moreover, my character was formed in my early environment which was 100 percent Catholic. My human values and attitudes are the same now as a Deist as they were then as a Catholic. I'm the same human being. There's an empathy between us that leaves us open to each other's thoughts. We respect each other. We can work together.

    That's the reason why I chose you to coauthor my-email articles as long as you wish. Adios, my friend. Ray. To return to list of e-mails, click here.