(My apologies for the long read…)

Hear, ye! Hear, ye! Gather ‘round, my friends, for an announcement pertaining to a personal accomplishment over forty-five years in the making! I am honored to share the news with you all that I have finally had my first “official” face-to-face real-world debate with a theist in a public location! And, much to my surprise, I discovered it was actually a bit of fun… *grin*… Allow me to expand a bit on the event…

This past weekend, the wife and I attended a local festival that is held annually in a small town just a few miles down the road from us. With a wide variety of food vendors, arts-n-craft tents, and a live music stage, the event is a nice way to spend a day enjoying good food, listening to local musical talents, and scoring a couple of pieces of unique craft items. So, after purchasing a large basket of delicious strawberries, we started our journey along the outer perimeter of the arts/crafts tents. And it was about halfway down the first row that I spotted one tent that stood out from the rest, because it had absolutely nothing in it displayed for sale. The only “advertising” visible was a large banner across the front reading, “Three things it is impossible for God to do.” The banner was (obviously) the first thing that caught my attention. It was after reading the banner that I then noticed the table below it, on top of which was some sort of “reveal board” display. The display had the word “Question” across the top, with the numbers “1”, “2”, and “3” below it, and you could tell that the word and the numbers could be turned individually as to reveal whatever was written on the back of them. (Make sense?) Anyway, naturally, my curiosity was piqued, causing me to stop dead in my tracks to further investigate.

Okay, so, I am standing there with a quizzical look on my face thinking to myself, “Hmmm… Wonder which way they are going with this?” Keep in mind, there were no crosses, or bibles, or any other types of indicators visible. There were just three or four folks sitting in chairs toward the back of the tent, and one guy standing up front beside the table. Obviously, the guy noticed me standing there staring, and he approached me and said, “Hi there. Would you be interested in hearing about the three things God cannot do?” My reply to him was, “Well, to be honest, I was standing here trying to figure out which direction you are going with this.” Apparently missing what I meant by that remark, the guy said, “Well, I would be happy to share this with you if you have a minute or two.” It was then that I looked over and saw that my wife had continued walking along, unaware that I had stopped. As I looked toward her, she stopped and turned to look back toward me, wondering why I had stopped. She walked back to me with a puzzled look on her face. About the time she got beside me, the guy had started his spiel. Basically, this is how it went…

“Let me show you three things it is impossible for God to do.” he said as he reached over to the “reveal board” and rotated the number “1” around to reveal the statement, “God cannot lie,” along with a bible verse. Then, reaching over to the number “2”, he rotated it around to reveal the statement, “God never changes,” with another bible verse. (Uh, suffice it to say, by this time I am having difficulty holding back spontaneous laughter. And the wife and I glance over at each other with a look of, “Is this guy serious?”) The guy continues by turning around the number “3”, revealing the statement, “God cannot allow anybody into heaven who does not believe in him and is not baptized in the name of Jesus.” (Yes, another bible verse included.) It was then the guy look back at us and stated, “Okay, with those three things being brought to your attention, here is my question to you.” The guy reaches over and flips the “Question” board to reveal the question, “If you were to die today, how certain are you that you will not go to hell?” (At that point, I about lost it… LOL… Honestly, I have no idea how I managed to NOT laugh out loud hysterically.) Somehow, though, I maintained composure, and then looked over at my wife and said, “Uh… Well… You wanna do this?” She looked back at me, and I saw a hint of a smile touch the corner of her lips as if to say, “Hell yeah! Lock and load! Game on!” So I looked back at the guy while thinking to myself, “Sorry, dude, but you asked for this.” But I told him, “Well, my wife is pagan, and I am an atheist. Soooo….” He looked startled for a brief moment, but then he recovered and said, “Oh, okay. Uh, in that case, I would love to discuss why you do not believe.” Poor guy… *hanging head in dismay*… He never had a chance. Total carnage ensued…

Without going into too much detail, there are a couple of things you should know about my wife. One, she was raised in a Christian home and attended a Christian school from kindergarten through high school graduation. The study of the bible was an actual class they had to take and pass during every year of school. (And she was an “A” student.) Two, she is a research fiend. Anything that gets her attention, she will research the hell out of it, and she has studied/researched a wide variety of history and other religions over the years. Oh, and when she is challenged on anything, she can become absolutely vicious. (A wonderful sight to behold, I must say… *happy sigh*… *wiping a tear of joyful pride from eye*…) Anyway, combine that with my laid-back “interviewing” skills developed from twenty years on patrol, along with everything I have learned from the AR over the past several months, and the poor guy was just way too outmatched. At one point, I even started feeling a little bit sorry for him… *chuckle*… To give him at least some credit, though, he did manage to stick to his faith. (Which, by the way, was ultimately the ONLY “defense” he eventually had to resort to using. Surprise-surprise…)

All in all, it was a ground-breaking experience and significant hurdle for me. At the same time, I learned a couple of things about myself in the process. For one, the encounter was not nearly as “uncomfortable” as I had anticipated it would be. Matter of fact, I found myself to be incredibly relaxed and even enjoying myself to an extent. Most importantly, however, I now know for absolute certainty that any discomforts I may have ever had in regards to religion are totally and without a doubt GONE. That is a feeling I wish everybody could experience. Thanks to all of you on here who have been so fantastic in helping me get to this point in my life. I would give you all a big hug if I could… *grin*…