This is one of those old saws, a joke that is, told in a variety of situations. The first time I heard it was from Dr. Thomas Stevenin, the late motivational speaker I had hired for a couple Harley Davidson conferences. The way Tom told the story it was an old farmer standing in for the Little Girl and a Wall Street Hedge Fund salesman standing in for the atheist.
Here's the story, and then a comment about why this is a apropos illustration.
(Thanks to my friend Joe Greco for sending this along, although I see it's all over the web on a hundred other blogs.)
This is so apropos becasue atheism claims to KNOW for a fact that there is no God. But an atheist knowledge of the universe is miniscule compared to all human knowledge, and all that humans know about the universe is miniscule to reality. The little girl knows that atheism is for idiots... that's not name calling, that's what they are.
Indeed, a child shall lead them... if they care to be led.
Here's the story, and then a comment about why this is a apropos illustration.
(Thanks to my friend Joe Greco for sending this along, although I see it's all over the web on a hundred other blogs.)
LITTLE GIRL ON A PLANE
An atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her and said, “Do you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.”
The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, “What would you want to talk about?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said the atheist. “How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?” as he smiled smugly.
“OK,” she said. “Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?”
The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, “Hmmm, I have no idea.”
To which the little girl replies, “Do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don’t know shit?”
And then she went back to reading her book.
This is so apropos becasue atheism claims to KNOW for a fact that there is no God. But an atheist knowledge of the universe is miniscule compared to all human knowledge, and all that humans know about the universe is miniscule to reality. The little girl knows that atheism is for idiots... that's not name calling, that's what they are.
Indeed, a child shall lead them... if they care to be led.
"This is so apropos becasue atheism claims to KNOW for a fact that there is no God."
ReplyDeleteYou don't know shit. Atheists are people who don't believe in gods; this does not imply any particular degree of certainty.
Brian, Well, I know the difference between an "atheist" who is certain there is no God, and an "agnostic" who is uncertain. If you are claiming that atheists are "not certain" then you have chosen to equivocate, perhaps inadvertently.
DeleteTo further clarify, in terms of any human being's knowledge of all reality, none of us knows shit. So, for someone to claim there is no God (as the story clearly indicates the man on the plane believes) then he's denying his humanness and claiming to be omniscient. Make sense?