I Spoke With Ray Comfort

On May 19 I met Ray Comfort. For those of you who are not aware of this, Ray Comfort is a New Zealand born Christian and evangelist who brought us the Atheist’s Nightmare! Ok, I’m sorry I lied (woops, a sin!). I didn’t actually meet Ray, but I did meet someone who practically channeled Ray through himself to speak to me.

Ray shows that since the banana fits perfectly in the mouth, god exists.

I was visiting the Marketplace, a collection of eateries and stores, in Glendale to pick up some electronic devices. I somehow ended up at Old Navy and bought some really nice colorful shirts. Anyway, walking back to the car I spy a sign that said “Intelligence Test” with a list of questions. Thinking these were Scientologists (as a Scientology center is a few blocks away) I ignored them and continued walking. However, as I walked away I spied their little set up one more time and saw they had changed the sign to a diagram that looked like the evolution of man from apes. This is when my “creationist sense™” started tingling. I could not resist walking back and so I did. I spoke with a guy and he practically repeated Ray Comfort’s evangelism methods verbatim to me (hence my assertion that he was channeling Ray). I even managed (which was rude, I admit) to complete some of his sentences and recite Ray’s “Have you lied? Then you’re a liar. Have you stolen? Then you are a theif. Have you lusted? Blah blah blah, ergo you’re a sinner” schtick back at the guy I was talking to. What was odd was that I asked him if he knew who Ray Comfort was and he said no, and later on when I had to leave he handed me a pamphlet written by Ray Comfort.

I spent about an hour talking with the guy and his posse. Although, I think I might have made some small difference it was overall a waste of time. Those people I met were classic creationists. As I expected, they were claiming evolution was false and God created everything 6,000 to 11,000 years ago. They claimed the bible was inerrant and that if one was to not accept Jesus one would go to hell. They were nice people, but extremely deluded.

What always strikes me as shocking is how these people do NOT know what evolution is. Every creationist I have met makes at least the following two erroneous statements:

There is no evidence for evolution.
Evolution tries to explain (and fails) how the universe began.

I spent the bulk of my time telling them that evolution is not what they think it is. And I think this is what is key here. When talking to these people, it is important to stick to one issue. In this case, the most important issue was educating them on what evolution is. First, you don’t have the time to convince them of anything. The goal should be to broaden their minds. Second, if you don’t stick to one issue, the conversation will meander around and get no where. So my advice is stick to one thing and show them they are wrong. Lastly, be nice. As stupid as they sound, as inane as their arguments are, be nice. Be courteous. Do not call them stupid or be negative. It is not productive. If you cannot do this, focus your energies elsewhere. For example, start writing a blog with all your negative thoughts, but don’t do it in person.

Anyway, I managed to get them to agree to check out Talk Origins, an excellent website that will answer all your questions about evolution. I hope they checked it out. Evolution is such a fundamental notion for the understanding of life and the world. It is scary that so many Americans do not accept it.