Trekke nye ateister etter nesa

Hvor sterkt fordommer om kristne sitter, bekreftes daglig. Og vi snakker ikke bare om unge journalister på jomfrutur, men folk som beundres for sitt fryktløse, for ikke å si fresende, forsvar for fornuften.

Og som i stedet tas med fordomsbuksene på knærne.

Det er ikke noe spesielt nytt at parodiske nettsider og bråkmakere som bløffer seg til kristennavnet i debattfora, kjøpes som ekte vare. Når man så ber den andre om å vise kortene, eller call the bluff som det heter på fint, er det alltid morsomt å se om de tilstår straks, lar det gå et par runder, eller aldri vender tilbake til forumet (ihvertfall ikke under det nicket.)

Siste eksmplet er et "leserbrev" til selveste Margo:

Dear Margo: Our daughter started college a year ago, and we’ve noticed during her visits home that she’s not the sweet, innocent girl we sent away for higher learning. We raised her with strong Christian beliefs, but lately she’s saying that she’s joined an atheist club on campus and is questioning everything we taught her. Now my husband refuses to let her in the house and is threatening to turn her in to the FBI. I’ve tried to cure our daughter and reconcile with her, but nothing seems to work. I’ve prayed over her at night while she sleeps, enlisted friends in a phone prayer tree and even spoken to my priest about the possibility of an exorcism. I’m at my wits’ end. How can I recover my daughter and keep her from hell? — God-fearing

Siden det er vanskelig å komme over en tydeligere parodi (hvis vi ikke snakker om en tilbakestående familie fra innerste Tennesee), det er noe nesten Monty Pythonsk over overdrivelsene, er det avslørende å se hvor ivrig den aldri sovende PZ Myers lar seg lokke på limpinnen.

There's a regular stampede of young people doing exactly what "God-fearing" describes — isn't it wonderful? This is exactly what happens when you send your kids off to college: if it works, they start thinking for themselves, develop surprising new opinions, and aren't afraid to share them with other people. Hooray for college students, some of my favorite people!

As for these poor parents, they shipped their daughter off to college with the wrong idea. They thought college would just confirm them in their same old traditional beliefs. We really ought to send little information packets to the parents of our students, carefully explaining that there will be little shocks like this, because their kids will come back as smart, independent human beings.

Margo's answer isn't bad — she tells them that it is normal for people to think for themselves — even if she does bend over backwards to give some unwarranted sympathy to freaky religious beliefs.

Det kan bli spennende å se hvor mange dager det går før bløffen avsløres, og om Myers noengang vil vedgå at han selv skrev kommentaren i fullt alvor.

Men jeg er ikke veldig spent på om Myers sine ryggmargsreflekser lærer.