After a recent conversation with two of my close friends about Sunday Christians, I had a flash of fear that perhaps I was a Tuesday Atheist. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term Sunday Christian, it is usually used to indicate someone who is quite righteous and observant of Christian rituals on Sunday but is significantly less so at all other times of the week. These people are sometimes also referred to as “bad” Christians. Seeing as I certainly wouldn’t want to be a Tuesday, or “bad” Atheist, I quickly compiled a list of the numerous potential theological pits that we atheists could fall into.
Could we be “accidentally religious?” When visiting the Notre Dame a few months ago, I had the almost irrepressible urge to go to confession. However, this urge was entirely born out of the desire to see what the priest would do if I confessed that I didn’t believe in god. I didn’t enter the confessional, as my French isn’t good enough to go much beyond “Je ne crois pas en Dieu.” Actually, I probably wouldn’t have even gotten that far… just the “Je ne…” followed by a few blinks and hopeful looks as I considered the chances that the priest spoke perfect English. Regardless, no attempts at confessing occurred- though as someone who has dated many, many Catholic boys, I likely had much to confess.
A quick scan of the remainder of my list assured me that I have not, luckily, lapsed into Tuesday atheism. Accidental praying in moments of panic? Nope, I tend to swear at the closest object instead (a quick apology to several people and animals that have happened to be nearby at such moments). Blessing people when they sneeze? Nah. See, this is easy!
Another potential concern: my “other-worldy” goods. While it’s true that I have a somewhat large bible collection, almost all were taken from hotel rooms that I did very un-Christian things in. Really, I only still have them because I can’t figure out anything else to do with them (paper hats?). Language? Well, I rarely use the g-word outside of the bed, and the moments in which I do could hardly be mistaken as prayer- though I’m sure I often sound quite grateful.
So, in the end, I think I can safely consider myself a “true” atheist.
