The Atheist Next Door...

Adam steps up to his seat at the head of his table, covered with food, wine and cocktails. He can't help but be happy knowing that his friends have all come just to enjoy this meal together. They rarely get together anymore and almost never like this, this he thinks really is the good life. "Lets all join hands and give thanks for this bounty we are about to receive." as one guy at the end of the table and casually declines the outstretched hand of the woman next to him. "John? Not joining us in saying grace?" Adam says as John's hands begin to sweat. He knows the conversation is about to start where he is questioned, probed and proded regarding his abstaining from the evenings grace. "Uh, I ah, just don't really feel comfortable saying grace with you guys. It's honestly just not really my thing, but go ahead please." Adam gets ready to move on, besides the glass of petite syrah in front of him is far to appetizing to worry about a broken link in the chain.

Adam's girlfriend, Sarah, is taking a different stance, she is far to inquisitive to let John off the hook that easy. "Wait wait, you're not going to pray with us? We're not going to make it like really christian or anything just a normal prayer ya know." Sarah tells John. "It's not that," great now it begins John thinks as he begins the monologue that he has rehearsed a thousand times, " I'm just not religious anymore, well I guess I never was, I just don't want to pray with you guys when I know there is nothing behind it on my part". Almost in unison the rest of the group takes a big gulp out of their glasses, and all seem to chuckle about it a bit. Sarah being far to intrigued to stop the conversation there continues the questioning: "Wait, John are you saying that you aren't a christian? Are you Buddhist or Muslim or something now?" "No, I'm saying I don't believe in...well...anything I'm an atheist."

An audible gasp comes over the group. None of them are uptight, they all went to the same Christian College, but to hear the word "atheist" is just kind of shocking, especially from John. "John, come on dude. You went to church with me before, don't act like now all of a sudden you just don't believe in anything above." John takes a beat sips his own glass and begins "That's just it, the above thing, the higher power. I've read and reflected, and reflected and read and the more I think about it the idea of something, high in the sky working as a judge and a father, as a master and a friend is just kind of ridiculous to me. I just think that... In my own mind, I can't justify the whole idea of religion so the next logical step is to deny it." Sarah responds "Thad's quite the leap of faith!" Adam, now puring his second glass (besides the bottle he drank cooking the meal) interjects "Or lack thereof, Hey-O!". Laughing John continues "Exactly! Think about the idea of faith in the Christian world, Faith was defined as belief in something that cannot be seen. How in the hell does that make any sense at all? In the modern world if I told you that the fairy's flew around us all the time but you couldn't see them, and you never would be able to, you just had to believe in them people would call me crazy right?"

Sarah pushes forward "Yeah but that is totally different, if we are talking Christianity, Jesus really lived, we walked the earth, died and rose three days later. how can you refute that? How can you refute the facts that point to God?" John jumps on the point: "Sarah, that's the thing, how do we know these are facts? There isn't a word in the Bible that is a first hand account of actually seeing the events you're talking about, they are all retold and retold almost two generations later. We have no idea what actually happened just as we don't when the Egyptians claimed that Horus rose from the dead as well." "Furthermore what is actually considered to be 'Christian' has changed drastically from the original followers of Christ or say the idea of being Christ like. the changes are so drastic that most would be hard pressed to find similarities in say the catholic religion and the teachings of Jesus."

Thinking on his point Sarah takes a different approach "OK sure Christianity or Catholicism is fucked up, but that doesn't mean that there is nothing, I mean where do we go when we die? What does it mean to exist then?" John speaks "That's the point, that is where this all comes from: Man's Narcissism and perpetual fear of death. Man is terrified at the idea of not being able to think anymore, not being able to 'exist' so through that they created a way to never die but to live on forever and in doing so created a social construct that also benefits society, IE don't kill don't rape ect. ect. But the point still remains that if man has created it, than man is his own god and that negates the entire idea of a god as it is..." John realizing after his rant that everyone is seated and drinking and eating he to sits down.

Besides the sound of forks and glasses the silence is haunting. Adam, aided by his syrah or whatever he poured at this point, breaks the tension "So how bout them Lakers?" John laughs with the group and they table the idea for another day...





Thoughts?