Last fall every law student started every conversation with another law student the exact same way: "What did you do this summer?" What follows is generally an embellished account of how reorganizing a near senile judge's files was the equivalent of being second chair at the OJ Simpson trial.
While drinking at a bar, I started a conversation with a classmate of mine, that very same way and it went as follows....
Russ: So what did you do this summer?
Classmate: I worked for a record company.
Russ: Cool! Did you meet anyone famous?
Classmate: Well, you probably wouldn't know them.
Russ: Why's that?
Classmate: I worked for a record company that mainly publishes Christian Rock.
Russ: Oh.
(Now, I don't believe in any absolute truths. This makes me uneasy about the subject of religion. I don't think any religion has a monopoly on the truth but I can't exactly say that any religion is 100% wrong because that would require an alternative truth to rebut that religion's claims.)
Classmate: Yeah it was great. I met a lot of cool people.
Russ: Really???
(Every secular humanist, such as myself, is bewildered when they discover that someone they meet has deeply held religious beliefs. How could someone so smart believe in that stuff? But then again, I usually say "why do the biggest morons usually have to be knee-jerk liberals)
Classmate: Yeah, but I'm really worried about a lot of my old coworkers. The company is based out of Mobile, Alabama and Hurricane Ivan is currently battering the Gulf Coast.
(Now, I should have said, "I hope everyone stays safe" or even said something that touched on the faith of her and her coworkers but instead I said the first thing that came to my agnostic mind)
Russ: Ha Ha! Where's your God, now?
Classmate: (Laughs Politely and changes subject)
The next day I felt like such an ass and sent an email apology. My classmate was gracious enough to accept it. Thank God she belonged to a religion that emphasizes forgiveness!
