Questions & Answers - Letters from Readers

I am always so very curious as to why I get questions from readers about my personal life and my worldview.   I appreciate all my readers, to be sure, but it seldom occurs to me to discuss my personal beliefs here.  You'll occasionally find a smattering of something I "believe" to be true, or something I "assume" is factual, and I'll try to support it with some form of evidence.  However, it is rare that I provide details of my personal life or my personal worldview, and there are several reasons for this. Lately, I've gotten so many emails from readers (some veteran readers, others from newer ones) about what I believe and what I think about certain topics, that I can't even reader them all.  I've made a committment to try to read every email my readers send me, so this is disconcerting to me - there are too many to filter through now, so I'm going to try address some questions here in this post about some of the themes I've seen in these emails.    

Before I do this, however, I want to offer three points of insight.  

The first is simple:  I don't talk about myself and my beliefs here because I am irrelevant.   When I say I am irrelevant, I'm not referring to the eternal constant presence of me. I'm referring to the me that walks with skin and bone and opinions and misgivings.  That me is irrelevant here, and if I'm ever to grow as a human being, I need to let my awareness expand outside of me. It does not matter what I believe or assume.  These are only my interpretations of what is.   They are not yours.  They should not be yours.  Your perceptions and interpretations are yours.  We are only working out a path together through dialogue - that doesn't imply we need to share beliefs or even values. If you believe that it does, my posts are likely not material meant for you.  

Secondly, I'm not going to do this again.  I will offer this once only.   If I continue to get letters asking me my beliefs about death, God, afterlife, social justice, racism, politics, etc. I will simply reference this post, or I will go silent for a while.  I find that whenever my conversations become emotionally or personally charged, it is best if I keep silent.   If, through my silence, my readers infer some meaning that I did not intend, then the readers assume responsibility for the interpretation of meaning through the filter of their own worldview and experience.  Do not read words that I do not offer, and do not extrapolate definitions that I do not provide. 

Thirdly, I appreciate that you are curious about me and I really do enjoy getting letters from readers, even if my response above seems harsh.  However, I ignore all requests for interviews/commentaries, and I do not (and will never) accept any social media invitations of any kind.   I am not interesting enough to warrant any attention, and I don't endorse products or services.   

All of what follows are questions I have seen in various emails from readers over the course of the last 30 days.    I'm sure there are more, but these themes were found more than once.  I can't capture the exact wording of these inquiries, but I am paraphrasing their meaning collectively through the questions presented below.  

 

Question: Do you believe there is life after death? 

Answer:  I believe that this is not a yes or no question, and to phrase it in this way eliminates the possilbilities that exist outside of the binary interpretation of being and non-being. 

Question: Do you believe that all humans should be treated equally?

Answer: I believe all conscious agents should be equal, not just humans. But until we can regard all of humankind as equal, we'll have a very tough time recognizing other conscious agents as such. 

Question: Do you believe in God? 

Answer: I believe that this is not a yes or no question, and to phrase it in this way eliminates the possilbilities that exist outside of the binary interpretation of being and non-being. 

Question: Where do you live? 

Answer: I live and work in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a part of a larger mountain range known as the Applachian Mountains.  I am in a very old part of the world.  I count as my neighbors some black bears, a puma, coyotes, Cooper's hawks, a family of blue herons, and many rabbits, squirrels, deer and other fauna.   It is a lovely neighborhood, and they are all great neighbors. Interestingly enough, the puma population here in my portion of this world went extinct, but local conversationists have worked collaborately with legislators to reintroduce them here, and I am the benefactor of the presence of at least one.   

Question: What religion are you? 

Answer: I do not engage in any religious practices. I admire and appreciate those who do. 

Question: Are you a Republican or a Democrat?

Answer: I abstain from political discussions. 

Question: What is your favorite TV show? 

Answer: I do not watch television. 

Question: What is your favorite book? 

Answer: The one I am currently reading. 

Question: Why aren't you on TikTok (or Facebook, or X, or Instagram)? 

Answer: I do not seek loose connections with large numbers of beings.  I prefer smaller, intimate connections with a closely held circle of only a few.   As humans, we are only capable of being personally accountable to a small group of connections, and social media (of any kind) does not foster personal accountability.  It removes it.   

Question: Do you identify as a man or a woman?

Answer:  I abstain from political discussions.

Question: Are you Pro-life or Pro-choice?

Answer: I abstain from political discussions. 

Question: How old are you?

Answer: Old enough to realize that moments are precious, and that every one deserves our intention. 

Question: Are you gay? 

Answer: I abstain from political discussions. 

Question:  Do you support the war in Gaza?  

Answer: I abstain from political discussions. 

Question: If you don't let me know what political party you support, I'm going to have to discontinue my reading of your work. 

Answer:  Thank you for letting me know. 

Question: Do you believe animals have souls? 

Answer: I believe that this is not a yes or no question, and to phrase it in this way eliminates the possilbilities that exist outside of the binary interpretation of being and non-being. 

Question: Why are humans always fighting with each other? 

Answer:  We perceive ourselves as separate beings with separate interests - competing ones, in fact.  As a result, we uphold (even if it's unconsciously) the doctrine of scarcity.   If resources are scarce - no matter what resource it is - we must compete for it.  This leads to violence.  Always. 

Question: Why am I always so sad?  

Answer: I'm afraid I don't have a good answer.  I hope your situation improves. 

There are others - some more specific.   A few are too personal.   If you wrote me a note over the last 30 days, and it is asking a question that I haven't addressed here, I will make every effort to answer it.   I can't promise to get everyone's email answered - it's not possible anymore.  But several of you sent me more than one, so I'll make every effort to get to those of you who did. 

Happy 2026 to everyone.