Non-Religious Person: Up by the meadows, in the Valley of Arcadia, there is a patch of pure mystery and beauty that everyone should visit. It is very rejuvenating.
Religious Person: Yawn. Whatever.
Non-Religious Person: The Valley of Arcadia helps one reconnect with the inner child – and gaze with awe at the raw, breathtaking masterpiece that nature truly is.
Religious Person: Meh. Don’t care.
Non-Religious Person: And after drinking deeply of this vast beauty, it becomes quite hard to believe that such nature was created by the same cruel, vindictive monsters described in the various mainstream “holy books”.
Religious Person (Suddenly attentive): Wait. What?
Non-Religious Person: There is no way that any “gods” described by religious people could have created this beautiful world, with all its awe-inspiring features.
Religious Person: That’s not funny. You are not funny.
Non-Religious Person: I’m not trying to be funny. Just making an observation that should be obvious to anyone who is keen about nature.
Religious Person: Your joke is not funny. I know jokes. Yours is not funny. If your joke was funny, you would see me go “ha ha”. But I’m not going “ha ha”, so your joke is not funny. Even if everyone else in the world laughs at your joke, it is not funny, because I’m not laughing.
N/B: For access to all anecdotes in this series, check out List of all “Chronicles of YHWH” notes.
Random thoughts 