I was in the kitchen eating and watching a television programme. The doorbell rang. I ask my sister, "Are you expecting someone?" She said no. Curious as I am, I decided to open the door.
Unknowing to the person or persons behind the door, I thought I would be ready to toss them away if they were selling anything. If my sister was not expecting anyone, then sure as heck my parents weren't expecting anyone else either. Upon opening the door, I see a man in denim pants and an indigo shirt with the words Toronto Challenge and a silhouette of the Toronto Skyline in front of a yellow sun. He was probably in his late 50s; more gray hairs upon his head than black and sported a very thin gray goatee. Beside the aged man was a very young person, possibly as old as me. He had a white shirt with black slacks and held a clip board. Clipped on to his left breast was a name tag that said Ariel... something. I could not read his last name, because it was foreign to me. Right then and there I knew they were going to sell God to me. Unfortunately, I had not prepared for this conversation, but I was not afraid. I knew they had something I don't have, a god.
"Hello," said the old man, "are your parents home?"
I replied, "Nope, actually she's in the shower." That was not a lie, it was the absolute truth.
"Oh, look at that a U of T shirt. Do you go there?" the man said, quickly to change the subject to me.
"Yes, I actually graduated from school there." I said trying to figure out how to get them away from the door.
Surprised, the man replied, "Really? How old are you?" I told the man I was old enough.
He asked again if there was no one available. I sternly said no. I did not know what to expect, because the beginning of the conversation threw me off. Normally, when Christian groups approach the door, they go straight into their spiel and sell their god right off the bat. Instead, this man eases his way into an irrelevant conversation. His confidant on the other hand is just watching and starring. It's as almost as if he was training to be like this man.
The man looked down and around when he spoke these next words, "I'm from a Christian group," Bingo! I thought, "just getting others opinion about god and their beliefs and I was just..."
I just had to interrupt him right away, "Oooh, Yeaah, You know what? I don't think you're talking to the right person."
"Oh?" He looks over to his young friend, "are you an Atheist or of another religion?"
I quickly replied, "Atheist."
"The whole family?"
I looked at the young man and his older counter part for a second and responded, "Yes" An absolute lie, as I am the only atheist in the family. Why did I say it? To keep it nice and simple for this Christian solicitor? Yes, I guess that's it. When I told him the family was atheist, The man's eyes widened and turned to his younger counterpart as if to find approval of what he thinks of the situation. At this point, my cat was trying to peek her way outside. I grabbed her before she approached their feet and pushed her back inside.
"Really?" the man continued, "I've not met many Atheist... [Yeah well, you're speaking with one.] You're a thinker [points to my U of T shirt], I know that for sure. Could you give me any reason why you're an atheist or are you afraid to speak about your atheism?"
It was right then and there that I decided to have this doorbell discussion. If I don't have it now, then I will never forgive myself for the opportunity. I specifically told the man, that I don't believe in the supernatural and life after death. I don't believe in the superstitions that come with religion. I choose to live in the now and never aspire to relish the possibility of the after and I apologise if I offend.
His response was thus; Not everyone can understand in everything in the universe and therefore a belief in God - someone much bigger than we are - is something to consider.
My response is that those are not options to me at all. I've told him that I've read the Koran [working on it] and the Bible and others [still working on it] and those collection of books cannot be something to live only by. [Keep in mind, I've told them that I do not mean to offend, but just offer my point of view.]
He called me a thinker. There was no sarcasm in his remark, but I almost took offensively. He introduced himself as Mike and his friend Ariel. Apparently Ariel is from Sweden. [I was wondering when I could bring up Thor, it'll be in here shortly] We all shook hands and continued our conversation. He told me that there were not many like me. [I'm sure there are many like me, but are afraid to speak out]. He said that people who know most about the facts of all religions are agnostic. I told him flatly that it is not an option. [By now you should know that being an Atheist is hard work, because facts about other religions is something I strive to feed my atheism. Being ignorant about other religions is just not the way to go for me.]
He then told me about a man named Josh McDowell. He compared McDowell to me and said that McDowell had a professor who was very Christian. He explained that McDowell would ridicule his professor's Christian faith. After graduating from university, McDowell traveled to the locations of where the stories took place in the Bible. After this so called pilgrimage, McDowell became a Christian believer. He suggested to me that I read "Not Just a Carpenter by Josh McDowell". I honest to goodness was in need of reading material, even if it was pro-Christian.
Thinking about it now, if you go to places where the Bible states where the stories took place, it will most definitely make the person believe. But, think about this: If you were to take a fictional story that takes place in a city or town and reference to major landmarks, city streets and environment and have that person roam the city with that book, then that person would believe those events actually happened... Well give or take, because we know that authors write what they know, so there could be part truths and some lies. However, the point is that the experience is much more real than a movie, but that person needs to know that the bible writers drew much of their writing from personal experience of Jerusalem and an expansion of their own imagination.
I was wondering if at some point his younger friend was going to talk. I seemed to focus this discussion towards the somewhat wiser of the two. Throughout the conversation he always asked for my name. My name is a biblical name, because apparently my parents have no creativity at all. He mainly talked about God and Jesus and how Jesus said he was God. He spoke of other religions and their leaders, who don't claim to be God, but it is "because in the scriptures Jesus says that he is the light... The way... he is the son of God.. He is God... What other religion claims that?" I took it as rhetorical, but I almost answered when he said "None." My response comprised of the mention of Thor, Dyonisus and Horus and their motifs used in the Christian religion. His response was that the gods of those times exhibited human emotions. I think at one point he mentioned gods having children... I thought nothing of it, but thinking about it now... Isn't Jesus a part human God, like Hercules?
After a pretty long conversation, considering he knew he wasn't going anywhere with me. He politely said he will pray for me and my family to god. He understands that it does not mean anything now, but it will at some point. He told me that his devotion to god was almost as if he was a person stricken with cancer praying for a cure - that was the observation he said his friends perceived. He confirms that there is a higher power and that there is something much greater than we are. We are just little compared to god.
I was going to leave it at that, but I had to say something. I said, "Do you want to know why I don't believe in god? Why is it that others praise the grace of god for their fortunes, when they can attribute the goals and achievements to themselves? I believe we are in charge and god's intervention has noting to do with it... Do you have an answer to that?" I probably shouldn't have said that, because it is as if I'm implying he does! Ugh!
He said he did and explained that there will be times where there will be an amount of distress in a persons life. They will soon realize they are helpless. With the grace of god they can find their own path and grow from there.
I said with a mindset like that, of course!
What he asked next didn't sound like an attack, but writing will. He said, "Is there anything in your life that made you hate god? You were a Catholic before you became atheist am I correct?"
I said, "Yes, I was once a Catholic when I was a child, but I did not hate god. I found the people who follow him unbearable and you know the fundamentalist aren't really appealing to your cause." [good save!]
Both men laughed, "Don't we know it!"
"Look no matter how you view it there are fundamentalist on either side of Christianity, Islam, heck even atheism. I just choose not to follow the superpositions, life after death, and ghosts - which I know from Christianity you believe in the Holy Ghost. As a Catholic through the consecration we were supposed to believe it was the real body of Christ after the priest blessed them, but no matter how you put it. It is still bread and wine."
With that he said, "Well, this Friday we're going to have a prayer session at [a chruch]"He handed me a pamphlet that says, "We Want To Change Forever The Way You Think About Church" Morningstar Christian Fellowship. I said, "I'm simply and humanist. I believe more in humanity that I do of religion." He shook my hand, then with Ariel and he again reassured me he'll pray for me and my family. I just said "thanks" because I still don't know what to say to that without being blunt and say, "I don't need your prayer or your god."
This account may not be a full recollection of what transpired between me and the Doorbell Christians, but they approached me and my home. There may be things that I added and subtracted from the conversation, but rest assured my responses in this writing are my own opinions. The Christians may seem a bit one sided in this account, but we did not full go far into deep discussion. We only scratched the surface. If they wanted to go further, I would have undoubtedly pursued, but again it was just on the surface stuff. I could tell they wanted to move on to another house, because a conversation with me about religion would rob them four or five houses with potential listeners and followers.
