In college, I had a very brief acquaintance that worked as a photographer for the school newspaper. Chris, whose last name escapes me, was a talented photographer and sketch artist. He and I usually spent time together at the newspaper trying to make deadlines. Mike, with whom I co-authored several articles, would toss around ideas and I would get worked up about them and furiously pour our thoughts into XYWrite. Chris would usually be in the back putting together print ads or doing some touches to layout before it was sent to print. We’d bounce things off him in the rare moments we could get him away from doing layout.

The thing I remember about Chris most, was his Happy Atheist Club. To understand the forces involved in forming this fully-funded student organization, you have to understand some of the atmosphere on campus at that time. We had two preachers that would come and inform the student body at large that they were, in fact, condemned to Hell. (They did not specify Tartarus or Gehenna, but it was usually pronounced like hail, only with two syllables. Hae–yel.)

One of them, a man known only as Rev. Birdsong, would begin by talking about sin and then pointing it out to students as they walked by him. Large crowds would gather to jeer at him. Smaller crowds of Campus Crusade and other group would gather and try to reassure the crowd that *they* were not like Rev. Birdsong and that although a brother in Christ, he was a nut. This usually brought jeers on the Crusaders who were pressured to simply disown him entirely. No matter how nasty the crowd became, they would always say that he was a brother in Christ, just not a good example at the moment.

The other man came with his family and a 9 ft cross he carried around. His wife was completely clothed from head to foot. It wasn’t a burqa, they are designed to be functional. This was something that appeared to be bedsheets with eye holes. She carried a sign that read, “I love my husband.” The kids wore t-shirts that read, “You are going to hail.” (I was hoping for Jesus rains.) Whereas Birdsong would warm up the crowd with fire and brimstone, this guy would go straight at pointing out people’s sin and informing all within earshot of their eternal destination. No one gathered around him, though at a distance, the same Crusaders and Navigators were assuring people that this guy, although a brother in Christ, was a nut.

Chris did not grow up religious, so he believed the entire scene was laughable. However, he was moved by the loyalty of these Crusaders and Navigators. They did not know Bridsong or the other guy. They didn’t appear to go to the same church or have any kind of relationship. Despite this, they stuck by these men. Sure they did not condone their message or delivery vehicle, but they were always there.

He had shared with me that some of his atheist friends seemed to have a cosmic grudge against God. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t believe that a god existed, it was that they believed that the only God in existence was a terrible villain. As a man that enjoyed discussion philosophy, he was generally discouraged by some of these friends because the discussion would get steered into a God-bashing contest. It would have been different if they were bashing a different God each time, you know, Vishnu on the first week, the Christian God the next, etc. However, it was always the Christian God that received their ire.

He decided that he wanted to form a club with happy atheists. He described a happy atheist as a person that was relatively well-adjusted, did not believe in God, and did not have an ax to grind against a deity. They met Sunday mornings at 10am for coffee and talked for about 2 hours. Oftentimes, as he would say, they would defend their bitter brethren, but reassure each other that they, the Happy Atheists, were more rational and even-keeled than them.

To be fair, he also formed the club to get money from the Student Senate. At the time, any official student organization could get money from the Student Senate to fund projects. Every year, Campus Crusade, the Navigators, Campus Advance, and others would get monies to fund retreats, campus events, even missions work. Chris figured that too much money was going to these religious groups, so he would get a piece of their action by forming a group that was similar to a Christian group. The logo was a smiley face and the coffee mugs were a collectors item on campus for a short while. After the first year, Chris’ group was funded. They used these funds to sponsor a panel discussion on the nature of existence, if I remember correctly.

Chris and I would talk from time to time. I shared that I had a couple problems with God and that I knew very few people that didn’t. It surprised him to hear that. He asked, “why do you follow Him, then, if you don’t see eye-to-eye on everything?” I asked him if he thought his parents didn’t exist because he couldn’t understand them. I was certainly glad that my parents continued to persist in believing in my existence despite not understanding me much at all. He accused me of trying to be cute and changing the subject. (I was.) The point, I shared with him, is that we meet God on His terms, not ours. I may not agree with Him at times, but it is He that sets the terms and the laws of the universe, not me. He set the terms of our relationship, but not in some authoritarian way. Instead, he chose to offer his son. We may not agree, but He is willing to be my friend in the meantime and allow me time and space to work out our differences.

I don’t know whatever became of Chris. He graduated a year later and the club folded without his leadership. In my brief acquaintance with him, I remember that he prized loyalty, which is probably why I like him so much. More than anything, he was just fun to be around.

I remembered him today because of something I saw on TV this morning. Our son has an ear infection (and possibly more). Nothing puts me to sleep like 4am TV, so I figured I’d give it a shot. So at 4AM, I saw a program paid for my the Philadelphia Church of God. For those that may not know, they are the breakaway group from the Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert Armstrong. The WCG renounced many of the teachings of Armstrong after his death. The PCG honors almost all of Armstrong’s teachings, including Sabbath keeping. THE PCG talked about the legacy of Armstrong and their ‘David and Goliath’ struggle to publish Armstrong’s works. Apparently the WCG took the PCG to court over copyright and lost. In addition to all of Armstrong’s works, they were also hawking the book that ‘exposes’ the error of the WCG and why the current leadership is dismantling Armstrong’s legacy.

What reminded me of Chris was their loyalty to a man, now dead. They have overcome in court and endured a church fracturing. Now, it appears that they are buying air time. All of this is done to proclaim their loyalty to their former leader. It’s true that the majority of the program was WCG-bashing, but that’s the topic of a different post.

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