Atheists Aren’t As Convincing As Casseroles

I’ve said before that as far as I’m concerned, atheists are like people who wear leggings. I disagree with their choices, but it doesn’t keep me up at night. We’ve had some pretty fascinating discussions about atheism here at at Jewcy, but what we’ve learned is mainly that atheists who don’t walk around spewing their version of fire and brimstone are a lot easier to listen to and engage with than, say, the kind of person who just keeps telling us that only weak people believe in God. I was thinking about this whole debate over the weekend because my new favorite book there’s a brief scene where the protagonist, who I love, pretty much rolls her eyes and sighs about those dumb religious people, and consequently makes my blood pressure rise about sixty points. On the other hand, I’ve been reading all about this new book coming out in February, God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman, and even though I doubt it will change my life dramatically, I can already tell it’s going to make me think and reexamine things and almost certainly keep me up at night. But I can tell you right now that even if Ehrman makes an un-convert out of me, I’m not leaving the Jewish world. The thing is, even if Judeo-Christian understandings of God or theological laws is flawed or even completely unfounded, the people who think it’s great are still the people who I go to when I’ve been having a rough time. They’re the people visiting my mother when she’s not feeling well, and raising money for charity and watching each other’s children and just generally acting as a wonderful and impressive community. I’ve yet to see any atheist—angry or otherwise—address this issue seriously. Maybe it is weak to want your friends to come help you and be with you when you grieve, or dance and sing with you at a wedding, or join in welcoming your child to the word, but honestly, that kind of weakness is fine with me.