by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
Professing atheists are known for attacking Christians — especially biblical creationists (it's who they are and what they do), but seldom go after other religions. There are always people who believe things that we reject, but to seek those people out and and subject them to vituperation is petty and emotionally immature.
God calls atheists fools (Psalm 14:1), the Hebrew word is nabal (× ָבָל) and denotes morally wicked, not necessarily stupid. However, since sin ruins everything it touches, many allegedly smart atheists are incapable of reason. Let me tell you about a couple of them, one in particular.
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| Artist's conception of Trojan asteroids / NASA / JPL-Caltech (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) |
When working for Stroid Mining (stroid is a compression of asteroid), our base was Marvin, on Mars. Sorta. While there wasn't a space station, we did have some big ships. They had science analysis stations to determine which stroids had any worthwhile amounts of interesting materials. The ships held our single-pilot flitters and a dozen of us would launch from there. Fire a few bolts at the asteroids, grapple the good rocks, and haul them back to the cargo hold. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Pretty good firepower, too. We could stay out for several hours, each pilot had a sector (I guess quadrant was too Trekkish), and fire three bursts per second and break down or cut into the asteroids. Can't get too close because the kinetic energy changes their course, often accelerating them. Sometimes right back at us. I thanked God for whoever designed the energy shields.
Cutting costs, Stroid Mining found a way to turn our flitters into drones and we would operate them by remote control. Sure, why not? Besides, the main asteroid belt is not like we see in science fiction movies; the big stuff is widely separated. There are exceptions — especially when they are caused.
At the end of my shift, my supervisor messaged that she needed to see me. Blinking from the eye strain, I got up from my chair, adjusted my hat, stretched, and headed to her office.
"Whatcha got, Zoe?"
"Cowboy Bob, I know you tendered your resignation and you're done in another week, but something's come up and Stroid Mining would like you to stay on."
This was not something I was in any frame of mind to discuss. "Look, I already ordered my own flitter so I could do my own mining. Marvin base over yonder on Mars is open to everyone that pays, and —"
'I know and I'm sorry", she said, giving me the big blue eyes treatment. "The company will make it worth your while."
"You laid off a passel of pilots, but I believe they're still on Marvin."
Zoe sighed. "Yes, I know. This isn't just a need for operators, though. We need your particular skill set."
I looked at her and waited.
"You're a good flyer," she continued. "One of the best we ever had. A great shot." Zoe sighed again. "But some explosions showed up on radar."
"Explosions?" I asked incredulously. "How?"
"We don't think we're alone out here, and there's reason to think the, uh, other party is unfriendly."