McDonald's was crowded. My friend and I were seated in a corner talking about how we atheists can make a positive impact on our community. Automatically, we kept our voices low, choosing to be discrete.
However, the customers around us spoke with unrestrained volume about their religion. They told each other about their church activities and chattered about how God had been working in their lives. When some got up from the table to leave, they spoke blessings to each other and promised to pray for each other and that they would see each other in church on Sunday.
Meanwhile, my friend and I hunkered over our table and spoke in low tones, like spies in a foreign land trying not to be noticed.
I hasten to say that I support my fellow customers’ right to express themselves. They weren’t trying to evangelize anyone and they certainly weren’t being unpleasant. However, I’ve been in restaurants where Christians were less gracious.
A few years previously, I watched a Catholic priest, dressed in full regalia, usher a sizable portion of his flock into the Denny’s for breakfast. When their order arrived, he led them in a lengthy liturgy to bless their breakfast which was cold by the time they were finished. They were proud of the good example they were setting as they interrupted everyone else’s meal.
However, their performance was mild compared to that of the Pentecostal preacher who once stood up in Pizza Hut to give an altar call. There, in the midst of the pepperoni and provolone, he demanded that the people respond to the call of the Holy Spirit and ask Jesus into their hearts.
Some of the people actually rose from their chairs, forsaking their meals to go to the crazy man who had them kneel at his feet while he prayed in tongues over them. The preacher later claimed that the Holy Spirit moved powerfully that night and the lives of the patrons of that Pizza Hut were forever changed.
I call BS on that.
The folks at McDonald's weren’t like that. They didn’t even notice the two old guys at the corner table who were murmuring about ways to challenge their assumptions.
And challenging assumptions is exactly what I want to do; however, I didn’t want to do it by shouting at the crowd in McDonald's. I want to show more respect when I communicate my views.
But respect is the last thing the Catholic cadre and the Pentecostal preacher gave to the people. They didn’t permit free thought and meaningful dialogue to occur during their show. Rather, they strong-armed their religion onto their audiences. No doubt, they would have justified their tactics by saying they cared about their souls.
I call BS on that, too.
Religion relies on strong-arm tactics all the time. A preacher can rail at a congregation and the people won’t talk back. However, if someone dares question the validity of a religious belief, they are admonished not to question God’s Word, and then is threatened with eternal punishment. Moreover, religious communities keep themselves in a tight herd, protecting themselves from rustlers like the two unbelieving guys at McDonald's.
Free thinking humanists don’t use those tactics. We rely on conversation, reason, and logic, which can put us at a disadvantage because those are quiet tools compared to manipulation and intimidation.
The problem with manipulation and intimidation, though, is that it has a shelf life. As people become educated and learn to think critically, religion has less of a hold on them, and they’re more willing to have the kind of discussions we’d like to have.
So my friend and I were quiet at McDonald’s that day. But there will be another day and opportunity.
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David Mercer is a Humanist Celebrant and calls himself a secular pastor. You can find out more about him at: www.cflfreethought.org/david-mercer