| Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist Absolves Christian Sins of Condescension, Presumption, and Bone-Headedness |
| Sunday, October 19, 2008 |
Bother Sam has long since lost track of how many times somebody, usually a
member of the Singleton clan, has said to him something along the lines of, “I
refuse to believe that you are an atheist. You say you’re an atheist, but deep down
you must still know that there’s a God.” And sometimes they append that last bit
with “And he loves you.” It is at that point that BS typically has to excuse himself
long to enough to retch up his breakfast grits. So in the blessed spirit of godly
condescension, I’m offering Christians the following, unsolicited, blanket absolution of
their sins against reason:
Dear Sister or Brother in Christ:
I am secretly reserving in your name a scintilla of the benefit of the doubt, and
accepting that somewhere in the nethermost recesses of your reptile brain one
neuron is saying to another, “I know that there is no God.” (Nurture the synapse
that links those neurons! It is all that stands between you and total insanity, that is,
the inability to recognize and respond rationally to the world around you, to tell the
imaginary from the actual.) You go ahead and talk about how there’s this big old
omnipotent god and he’s your pal. I’m going to give you a little credit in spite of
yourself. I choose to believe that you really don’t believe. And I’m rooting for that
synapse. You are welcome.
Love,
Brother Sam
member of the Singleton clan, has said to him something along the lines of, “I
refuse to believe that you are an atheist. You say you’re an atheist, but deep down
you must still know that there’s a God.” And sometimes they append that last bit
with “And he loves you.” It is at that point that BS typically has to excuse himself
long to enough to retch up his breakfast grits. So in the blessed spirit of godly
condescension, I’m offering Christians the following, unsolicited, blanket absolution of
their sins against reason:
Dear Sister or Brother in Christ:
I am secretly reserving in your name a scintilla of the benefit of the doubt, and
accepting that somewhere in the nethermost recesses of your reptile brain one
neuron is saying to another, “I know that there is no God.” (Nurture the synapse
that links those neurons! It is all that stands between you and total insanity, that is,
the inability to recognize and respond rationally to the world around you, to tell the
imaginary from the actual.) You go ahead and talk about how there’s this big old
omnipotent god and he’s your pal. I’m going to give you a little credit in spite of
yourself. I choose to believe that you really don’t believe. And I’m rooting for that
synapse. You are welcome.
Love,
Brother Sam