Paragraph(s) of the day from A Different Closet
“OK, then what are your religious beliefs?”
Keith looked away, toward the court. No one spoke. Kelleher became aware that several teenagers were about to start another basketball game. He smelled chicken frying somewhere nearby and began to wonder whether he had understood Lardner correctly.
“Man, I love fried chicken,” Keith said. He appeared to watch kids as they took random jump shots with a half dozen basketballs. “To answer your question, I don’t have any religious beliefs. You asked if I were an atheist. I’m not, because to be an atheist demands the acknowledgement of a belief. I don’t think anything created us, or cares about us, but I don’t know that. For me, belief or disbelief of that sort takes more imaginative effort than I’m capable of. I understand that people are generally disposed to believe something, so I’ve chosen to limit my beliefs to tangible, measurable, concrete matters about which there’s no room for debate, the kind of things people hardly ever kill each other over. It goes back to the reason I haven’t voted. Now, did Lardner want you to ask me anything else?”
“Pardon me,” Kelleher said.
“Oh, forget that, Noel. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. But, please, let me add this, whether you use it in the paper or not. I want to make it clear that I’m a huge supporter of religion, of churches, synagogues, mosques, whatever, religion in general. I think it’s what’s saved us all, going all the way back to the dark ages. Without the moral compass of whichever god people believe in, most of us would still be enslaved somewhere. I mean, religion is at least indirectly responsible for all of our hope, despite some of the people who tend to serve as its spokesmen. It has to be allowed to flourish, perhaps foremost among our freedoms. Heck, I think religion is why we’re here, and it’s why here is what it is.”
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