The past couple of days have been agony and torment for me to some degree with my head spinning around contradictions, frustrations and the overall irony of the present situation I find myself in. About a year ago when I was spending my year abroad in Germany, I met this Dutch girl whom I fell head over heals for. We had an amazing amount in common, she was bright and beautiful and we never tired of each other’s company. The biggest problem though is that she is insanely religious. I don’t mean to the point that she goes around praying all the time or trying to convert other people to her religion (to her religion is a deeply personal thing), but I mean it in the sense that she is vocal about it in private and that when we talk, she will occasionally go off on these religious tangents that drive me nuts.
Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis or has read a number of my previous posts can tell right away that I am a stark Atheist. I can’t buy into the belief in some sort of supreme being who has unlimited powers and controls us all through blackmail. I just can’t do it. Before I go on, however, I would like to make it clear that I am not so dense as to not understand or even respect other people’s beliefs. I am simply stating my view point on this situation.
To get back to the story, since I have been back in the US, we have consistently been talking on instant messenger — usually several times a week. A couple of days ago I was talking to her when she mentioned that she was watching a documentary on TV about the evolution of bears. I knew things were going to get bad from this point because whenever some who is religious brings up evolution, you’re bound for an argument. Well, we did have a pretty big discussion about it because she started going into this crazy creationist stupor condemning the theory of evolution as an unprovable dogma which people blindly buy into. Do you already see the irony in this argument?
I suppose it really wasn’t much of a discussion since, because I care for her quite a bit, I didn’t really say much. I did what I usually do and passively let her rant until she gets bored and drops it. Then I take the pent up frustration and spill it out here or to friends who have the same viewpoints as me. It’s not that I’m afraid she’ll hate me for it — in fact, I don’t think she would mind the debate at all and might even enjoy it — it’s that I know how she strongly she feels about the whole thing and I want to respect that. Besides, that’s what blogs are for. I can take it out here without running the real risk of hurting anyone’s feelings personally since it’s written for a general audience.
