My new reason for being an atheist.
A couple of years ago, I attended a concert organized by a friend. I was seated next to a lady in her thirties. She was quite chatty and readily told me about the run of bad luck that had befallen her, after I commented on her bandaged and swollen hand. Oh yes, she had burnt her hand on the pot while cooking. She continued to explain that it was really bad luck, because she had just recovered from an accident in which she rolled and wrecked her vehicle. She was also having trouble at work and was lonely and unable to find a partner. I kid you not, she went on and on about how bad she had it. After sharing all of this with me, she told me that God had carried her through all of this and which church did I attend? I told her that I was an atheist. She moved her chair away from me and asked in dismay "Why? What went wrong in your life?"
Well now. I was astounded! Clearly God hadn't particularly blessed her and I wasn't missing out on anything! I honestly didn't know how to respond, so I just said that nothing went wrong, I was very happy and that she only believed in God because her parents raised her that way and if she was raised in an Islamic household, she would be a Muslim today. I also tried to pacify her by saying I wasn't evil or anything, because the way she moved that chair away from me left marks on the floor. I seem to recall that she said she would pray for me and I responded, snippily, "you do that".
After that incident, I often wondered how I should have responded. I still don't really know, but I have gone through many possible answers over the years. Recently I've come accross several references to Christians who think that thinking is bad. Yes, I know.
So my current reason, if asked, is that I enjoy thinking. Therefore, any group that prohibits thinking is a group that I intend to avoid. The church expected me to pay money to be told that the worst thing that happened in the history of mankind was when two naked people gained some knowledge and I simply cannot, in good conscience, subscribe to that.
I'll see how that one goes down.
Well now. I was astounded! Clearly God hadn't particularly blessed her and I wasn't missing out on anything! I honestly didn't know how to respond, so I just said that nothing went wrong, I was very happy and that she only believed in God because her parents raised her that way and if she was raised in an Islamic household, she would be a Muslim today. I also tried to pacify her by saying I wasn't evil or anything, because the way she moved that chair away from me left marks on the floor. I seem to recall that she said she would pray for me and I responded, snippily, "you do that".
After that incident, I often wondered how I should have responded. I still don't really know, but I have gone through many possible answers over the years. Recently I've come accross several references to Christians who think that thinking is bad. Yes, I know.
So my current reason, if asked, is that I enjoy thinking. Therefore, any group that prohibits thinking is a group that I intend to avoid. The church expected me to pay money to be told that the worst thing that happened in the history of mankind was when two naked people gained some knowledge and I simply cannot, in good conscience, subscribe to that.
I'll see how that one goes down.
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Comment by Brian Roche on September 5, 2009 at 7:16pm -
Yeah, the whole concept of thinking seems to be a problem for many people.
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Comment by Apple on September 5, 2009 at 11:43pm -
Nice.
I think I should prepare some witty comments ahead of time as well.
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Comment by Reggie on September 6, 2009 at 12:14am -
I think you responded reasonably well. I never come up with the perfect retorts until an hour later, anyway. The problem, obviously, was not in your response but with hers. Just try to remember her for the car rolling, hand burning, loveless moron that she is and keep grinning.
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Comment by DeSwiss on September 6, 2009 at 12:12pm -
This was a wonderful post! One of my fav commentators on Christianity's anti-knowledge beliefs was Frank Zappa:
"The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your fucking mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions."
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Comment by Prazzie on September 6, 2009 at 12:47pm -
Haha, thank you for that!
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Comment by Arthur Frane on September 6, 2009 at 2:42pm -
Love the Zappa quote! I've just been re-reading some Robert Ingersoll. He's got loads of reasons for being an atheist.
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Comment by Arthur Frane on September 6, 2009 at 2:43pm
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And I don't think your response could have been any better. The lady was clearly content in her delusion.
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Comment by Dave G on September 7, 2009 at 1:24am -
I enjoy thinking as well, and the opposition to thought and knowledge is one of the things I find most offensive about religions.
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Comment by Wesley on September 12, 2009 at 12:53pm -
I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men.
Robert Green Ingersoll
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Comment by David MJ Millar-Haskell on September 14, 2009 at 2:02am -
You were dealing with a delusional person. There was no good response. I just hope she fails to breed.
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