I wrote back, saying that I didn’t understand her letter. After a confused response, I wrote again, asking a single question: “Why do you think there is a God?” 

Vanessa’s reply mentioned the “first mover” and “LOVE”. It concluded “In addition, I feel HIS SPIRIT and know- I am like a blind person (although I can see) who feels GOD and are witness to HIS WORKS.  GOD is in me, and I am with HIM you see?”

I didn’t see, and still don’t but we continued writing. Convinced that I am seeking God and persuaded that I contradict myself frequently, Vanessa continues to send me e-mails that she hopes will convert me.

But we have still not found common ground on even the most basic points. Recently she asked “How is it that you think it possible that the universe could just have always existed but  you claim (you think wrongly) that GOD couldn't have always just been as well?”

I have no idea why she thinks this is my opinion. I pointed out that as far as I knew the universe was only 15 billion years old. I added that without proof of God’s existence it was meaningless to ask how long he had been around. I’m still waiting (25 February) for a reply.

I find it easier to communicate with Dawn, a creationist. I have, however, been unable to change her mind on several key points. These include the difference between a very small possibilty and an impossibility, the implications of genetic mutation and the fact that human beings are not descended from monkeys.

Dawn writes me long, thoughtful e-mails but we’re talking past each other. I don’t buy her interpretation of the Bible and she cannot accept the idea that God might not exist.

Sadly, America is full of Dawns and Vanessas, men and women convinced by websites such as answersincreation.org that God exists. Such sites succeed because, like stage magicians who dazzle audiences with mirrors and misdirection, they use logical tricks to convince their readers that God exists.

Look behind the tendentious questions, the fallacious arguments and the failure to distinguish between cause and coincidence or between result and purpose and the proof of God’s existence vanishes into the ether. Too many Americans, however, like Dawn and Vanessa, prefer the stage show to the reality that lies underneath.

Which means that I’m not optimistic that either correspondent will change her mind. Meanwhile I am more than willing to accept God if given a reason to do so. On past experience, however, I don’t expect that Dawn or Vanessa will change mine.

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