Stopped In The Street By Christians

yesterday i had the misfortune to be stopped in the street by two people training to be pastors. They wondered if they could "take some of my time" and "have a little chat". being in the mood for an argument i gladly agreed.

They started off by introducing themselves. I forget their names so we will call the tall one Tom and the short one Steve.

"so, Have you ever thought about religion, And specifically the Bible?" Tom started. "I have" i said, Which was greeted by a smile from Steve, the smile soon disappeared when i said "but i try not to because i feel it's a pointless use of my time". "why is that?" asked Tom, "Do you feel as though religion and Christ are out dated now?". How could i resist this one? "they have been outdated for 2000 years. The idea of god is a primitive notion used as a crutch by people who had no other way to explain the world around them, We don't need this crutch any more". They paused. "There are a lot of answers in Christ". "what?" i replied, "there are no answers, there are only reasons to stop thinking about things". When i was asked for an example i said "Ok, So your loving god creates a planet where if you are born at a certain location there is a high chance that you will die before you reach 4 years old from either AIDS, malnutrition or drinking poison water", "yes, but....", "but god works in mysterious ways? Right? See that isn't an answer, it's just a far fetched rationalisation that allows you to believe that god is loving while at the same time accepting that he gives people a terrible life for no other reason than they were born on a certain continent".

By this point Tom had given up and it was Steve's turn. "God has a plan for all of us". "well if god has a plan why do christians typically try to do good?", I think this stumped Steve "How do you mean?" he said. "well, You agree that the christian thing to do is to help the homeless right?", "Of course", "well, Why are you so intent on undoing gods plan? Why, if god has a plan, Should you bother to help anyone? isn't that going against gods plan?", "ah, but god wor....", "yes god works in mysterious ways, You already said that, So how about giving some answers and stop parroting the canned rhetoric".

By this time they had realised that they were wasting their time and i could see the happiness on their face when i said "this is my bus, I'll catch you next time". I have a feeling i wont be stopped again, though i may go looking for them, I had fun even if they didn't.