Grumble, grumble, grumble, went Tim Wilson, author, journalist, TV guy, brainy guy and wit.
Have I left anything out? Oh, yes, there is the little matter of his conversion to Catholicism.
He said: “Were you surprised when you heard I’d become a Catholic?”
Of course I was surprised! Wasn’t everyone? But why was I? he wanted to know.
Because it’s weird, I said, lamely but truthfully, and we’d been talking about God for a good long time by then and we had both had enough of talking about Him.
Or at least we had both agreed he wasn’t going to be able to talk me into faith — “You were raised an atheist? You poor thing!” — and I wasn’t going to be able to talk him out of it.
He said, hardly smugly at all, really: “You’ll probably, on your death bed, be screaming for the mercy of the Blessed Virgin.” I most certainly will not.
“I shouldn’t provoke. I shouldn’t provoke,” he recited, failing miserably at piety.
He can’t really believe in the virgin birth, I said, but of course he does. “Absolutely.”
He said: ‘Why are we talking about religion so much?” Serves him right.
He had said, about our God talk: “It was very Dawkins versus the Bishop of Canterbury … but maybe scaled down a bit.” Huh. Only on his side.
“On my side. More like a stammering convert up against a princess of atheism; a deacon of disbelief!” Continue reading.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Image: Greg Bowker/NZ Herald
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