Everybody Knows It

A militant atheist has changed my life. Because of the wall of words he threw at me like a competition fast-talker on speed with only seconds left to live I have decided that my faith in God has been misplaced and I now need to find something else for my entire life to be about.


Yeah, not quite.



The experience did, however, make me appreciate how people must feel when Christians do similar things. I tried having a real conversation with the guy, but he wasn't interested; he only cared about throwing words at me. Even if he DID have an actual point it was lost among a fog of hurtling words and unsupported propositions. His answers to my questions were along the lines of "well, everybody knows that...." blah blah blah. Yeah, and everybody knows the sky is green.



What do you mean the sky isn't green? I said EVERYBODY KNOWS IT, you don't need any more proof than that. Good grief, what kind of idiot are you?



So why should I expect someone listening to me to feel any different? If they want to read my blog they can find it, they don't need a live, impromptu recitation. If all they take away from the experience is "whew! I'm glad that guy is gone!" then what good have I really done? Have I planted a seed or have I ensured that they are going to try to avoid future confrontations? Eh, maybe if I'm in the mood for some good arguing...



On the other hand I had a conversation with two atheist Ghostbusters fans who I'd also never met before. We didn't agree on a single thing except that Ghostbusters is awesome, and yet we had a real conversation that lasted about 15 minutes. We left unconvinced by the opposing position, and yet it was a pleasant experience with us all shaking hands afterwards. They left me with a few things to look deeper into and admitted that I had given them something to think about. Huh, what's that? They're considering what I said even though I didn't compress a 30 minute sermon in to 3 and throw it in their faces like a wet blanket?



What can we learn from this? Christians, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you mean well. You know the creator of the universe who loves this other person enough to die for them. Why wouldn't you want to tell them about the truth you've learned? But think about this, if you go throwing words at a wall to see what sticks all you're going to do is make a mess. Why not try listening to their questions and having something resembling a conversation? Yeah I know that's scary, they may ask you a question you don't know the answer to. Yikes! But imagine their surprise when you're honest and say, "I don't know right off, I'll have to research that one" instead of trying to blow smoke in their faces and call it clarity.



Then again if your best approach is to tell people how evil they are because they are wearing black clothes or have questions, or are tempted to do things God might not approve of maybe you need to think about your motivations for talking to them in the first place. If you want to prove you're right and they're wrong or that you're the moral superior in the room you might have a tough time getting an actual conversation going. Maybe try learning to treat them as human beings first. That's a start.

It can see you