Well, I lied. I said I was going to combine all my forms of communication via my blog into a vlog (video blog) centered around the cottage building with some of my thoughts mixed in occasionally. However, with only an iPhone to work with and no way to edit videos, I’ve changed my mind. Too challenging at this juncture. I’m also not so sure anyone would want to watch them. I follow several people on YouTube who are building things and discussing the big questions of life, but I’m a hermit.

I’ve decided to continue with my previous format, putting health updates (when there are things to share) in a written form, an occasional video update of the cottage building, and my more provocative thoughts, what I used to call “Ramblings,” in a (poor man’s) podcast.

 I do podcasts not to reach a greater audience, but to the contrary, to make access more cumbersome. The reason is, I’ve had a few dear people take offense at things I’ve written, and I regret that. When you are a hermit, friends are precious. But religion is a sensitive topic, as is politics. I’m not religious or political, and that’s why I prefer to frame all my observations in philosophical terms. I love philosophy because it addresses all the big questions of life, the same ones that religion or politics address, but without the cultural or historical baggage of the former. When I put the more controversial things in written form, and it ends up in people’s e-mail inboxes, (and they only signed up to my blog to follow my cancer course or my writing), I think they are taken aback. So, if I announce in advance the topic and the listeners go out of their way to listen to a podcast, they do so because they are sincerely interested in what I have to say. I never present thoughts to persuade people to abandon their long-held beliefs, but just to give food for thought. I welcome disagreement. I would be surprised if I find anyone who has reached the same conclusions as I have about those big questions and if I only befriended people who thought like me, indeed I would be a lonely man.

With that said—and considering that I’ve had a new wave of people sign up to my blog, following the breadcrumbs from my new book, The Stones of Yemen—I think it would make sense if I reviewed my perspective and agenda again for my philosophical ramblings. If you’ve heard me share this before, you may want to exit here.

A Historical Perspective:

After growing up in the Bible-belt, then an 18-year stint in a very conservative form of evangelicalism, I departed that movement in 1990 while I was serving as a missionary to Muslims in the Middle East. The issue that drove me out of that movement was the pursuit of honesty and truth. To thrive within that subculture requires a lot of dishonesty. Presenting yourself as better than you really were, the demonization of those who do not think like you, faking miracles etc. I spent the next decade in serious study, trying to make sense of the world once again. The topics of my study included history, philosophy, and culture. I felt like my pursuit of candor and truth was rewarded with incredible insights into why and how, as a society, we think.

I also “evolved” during that time through agnosticism, atheism, but in the end discovered the historical Jesus, a very different person than I had been introduced to within my religious upbringing.  

I began blogging about twenty years ago under the title “Christian Monist.” The focus at that time were for people like me, exiting evangelicalism. I saw myself at the backdoor of the church, speaking to those leaving and saying, “Before you leave, consider this different way to think about Christianity.” The focus was on the pursuit of truth within a world dominated by post-modernism, which asserts there is no discoverable truth.

Circa 2015 I decided that I had said enough and stopped blogging for a while. Then, in 2016 I was confronted once again with the fruits of postmodernism, Time Magazine declaring that year, “The Year Truth Died.” All philosophical movements start with healthy contributions to society but end in despair when they go too far. Post-modernism is no exception as we are nearing the end (I hope) of that movement. This resurrected my writing about post-modernism, especially the way it has influenced the Christian society. On the evangelical side, giving up the pursuit of truth for power (e.g., embracing Trumpism), on the “progressive” side, giving up the aspiration of truth in exchange for social peace (embracing the likes of pop theologians like Richard Rohr and Rob Bell’s hybrid of a Buddhist world view dressed with Christian language).

In 2019 I decided to move on. I have been writing as a hobby for thirty years. I wanted to focus on improving my writing and to continue writing fiction at a more professional level. I changed my blog page’s title to J. Michael Jones Writer. I barely got started when cancer knocked the wind out of my sails. Because I was in an extended stay (ended up being almost six months) in hospitals, I turned my blog to mostly talking about the cancer experience. At that juncture, many new people came to the blog to see what was happening to my health and I greatly appreciate them.

Since 2019 it has been much of a hodgepodge between my health, coping with cancer, my writing, and my discussions about the pursuit of truth in a late post-modern world. Part of the more controversial things I discuss involves the deconstruction of the American Christian culture. It is those topics I will now try to relegate to podcasts.

My podcast will focus on the three posts: the post-Christian world of western civilization and the post-post-modernism world.

At this juncture, I am giving up on my writing career. While I adore writing and have many books in my head wanting to get out, I am a realist. The writing business is based on the notoriety of the author (because that’s what sells books) and the fact I am a nobody, there is little hope of selling enough books to offset the costs of research and development. Frankly, being medically retired, I can’t afford to continue writing.

In summary, look for an upstart in the podcast soon.

Well, I really didn’t lie here. But when our kid were little, anytime something didn’t turn out the way I said it would, my kids would say “You lied.” You know, “We will stop at the next store.” Then I forget the kids wanted to stop and missed a store.

Happy Memorial Day

Mike