A BARE STAGE WILL SUFFICE

ACT ONE

BEN:

I can't quite recall if it was Theresa or I who came up with the idea. To "take the challenge." Probably, each of us had a hand in it. We certainly each of us had a mouth in it--and each of us was, quite frankly--sick of hearing the other spout off about it.

Several months after having become "item-ized," Theresa and I made a pact to simply avoid The Issue. Really, why drive ourselves to--and round and round--Crazy Town, arguing ad nauseam on the trip? It was far easier to stay out of dodge--that is, I would side-step her CRI-pile (Christian Research Institute), and Theresa would give my SA-stash (Scientific Americans) a wide berth.

For these past two years, we'd thus managed to maintain our "Don't ask; Don't tell; Don't discuss" truce--until Tuesday's game-changer triggered our respective relapses into high-horse-ery.

It had been easy enough to persist in the state of agreeable disagreement over what was, essentially, utterly irrelevant to our lives. It would have been entirely different, of course, had we planned to have children--we wouldn't have married in the first place, that's for sure!

As regards having children--rather not having children--we were in perfect accord from the get-go. Well, that's not entirely accurate; it's not that both of us definitively didn't want kids. I myself had never much thought about it, so I suppose I didn't really lean one way or the other. In any event, the question was moot; before we'd met, Theresa had been told that, with severe deformities in both ovaries, her chances of conceiving were one-in-a-million.

Well--guess who won the lottery Tuesday afternoon! Barely two months into the marriage, no less. Which means we must have struck the jackpot on our honeymoon--wish we'd gone to Vegas with those odds.

As of Tuesday, two days ago, our "religious differences"-- euphemistic understatement--are no longer academic: how the hell are we to raise the kid in this type of mixed--mixed up--marriage? Subtle denominational differences pose enough of a problem--here, we're dealing not with nuance, but with polarity.

Which brings us to The Challenge. We both solemnly promised to consider each other's position. For Theresa, that entails reading the "de-conversion" memoir by former fundamentalist preacher Dan Barker. My part of the bargain is to read Lee Strobel's compelling story of his transformation from staunch atheist to evangelical Christian. I am also obliged to study selected Biblical references and to "pray" to Jesus to show me the light.

The book and the Bible, those I can handle, tedious though I expect them to be. As for praying to Jesus, well, that strikes me as simply silly, like talking to myself, really, I mean, really, what do I expect, a flash of fire, a Voice from On High? Still, I figure, low-hanging fruit. So, OK, Here goes: Shout out to Heaven: Hello, anybody there?

And He answers me. He'd been here all along--Jesus tells me--patiently waiting for me. For me to come to Him. He baptizes me, bathes me in white light, forgives me my sins. Praise the Lord!

This happened just this morning, just as I was waking up; Theresa had already left. I called out from work, and have spent all day devouring Strobel and the Bible with a vengeance. I can't wait to begin my life anew in Christ! I can't wait until Theresa comes home to tell her the Good News!

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ACT TWO

THERESA:

Two days ago, Tuesday--after Dr. Logan called to say: "Surprise!"--Ben and I came up with our cockamamie "pledge."

I confess that, at the time, I was tempted to just go through the motions. Because honestly, I just couldn't see how we, either of us, would--could-- change our views. One thing I know for sure: God will become an atheist sooner than Ben will become a Born-Again Christian!

As for me, I've been a believer all my life. Not a dumb-and-blind believer--I've had my share of questions and doubts over the years--but ultimately, they've served only to strengthen, not diminish, my faith. Nor am I some ba-ba-brain-dead sheep; I've long studied The Bible, and no, I don't believe it literally word-for-word--surely, much of it is symbolic--but again, this is no threat to my faith. Time and again, Christ always triumphs. Nit-picking and cherry-picking notwithstanding, His message of Love and Salvation prevails.

That said, I have no qualms whatsoever about my quest. Surely, genuine faith such as mine will not be threatened by a disgruntled defrocked preacher nursing his sour grapes. I'm determined to rise to the challenge of playing Devil's advocate--or at least to hear his fallen angel out.

I finished the book just this morning--having read all night Tuesday, and most of last night--and having played work hooky Wednesday so as to complete my homework.

I must admit, Barker comes across as sincere. Surely, he doesn't need to keep an axe sharpened for Church-grinding purposes: after all, he'd earned a fortune from the several Christian books he wrote and seminars he developed. He was a dynamic and fervent preacher--a staunch believer for many years--whose faith, nevertheless, gradually eroded, despite his having struggled long and mightily to maintain it. Indeed, he'd been, mercilessly, dragged--thrashing and howling all the while--to his ultimate realization that God does not exist.

I cannot begin to imagine his years of torment. I myself could never have borne such prolonged torture. Mercifully, I will never suffer so. Unlike poor, erstwhile-preacher Barker, I have no need to cry out to Jesus, to beseech Him to sustain my faith. After two days of immersion in Dan Barker's Hell, I am, at last, released to the Light, the Truth. I am--unalterably so--secure in my belief; it cannot be shaken. I am at total peace. Christ, the Father, the God, in whom I've put my unwavering trust all my life, can never fail me.

After all, how could God ever fail me--when, thanks to Dan Barker--I know, without doubt, that He does not exist. I can't wait for Ben to come home tonight to give him the good news: that I am a newly-born Atheist!