I just finished listening to the audio version of Penn Jillette's new book God No! Signs You may Already Be an Atheist, And Other Magical Tales. OK, I didn't really finish it, but I finished the chapter where he writes about our little dinner we had at Traif last year. He tells the story better than me, and I laughed harder hearing the story from him than the laughs I get when I tell the story. But it also made me emotional and teary eyed.Penn shares my - and my friends' - stories with his readers, what that experience has taught him, and what he took away from it. Now I feel it is my chance to share what that night meant for me.
Let's get the obvious out of the way first. First of all, I had dinner with a celebrity. Not just any celebrity, but one I greatly admire. So that is pretty cool in itself. What's even cooler, is that I am in his book, and that he cleverly placed a classified ad for my services in it.
But being able to name-drop "I had dinner with Penn Jillette" and the fact that his honorable mention might make me a few bucks one day, are nothing compared to the lifelong impact Penn has had on me before, after, and during that dinner.
Long before I had the honor and pleasure of being in his presence, his words of wisdom entering my psyche through my iPod, computer screen, and television have had a deep impact on me.
George Carlin
taught me that it is OK to poke fun at the crazy shit people you love believe in, and that if something is sacred it's probably bullshit. Richard Dawkins taught me what is real and what is not, and Hitchens
taught me how to talk to religious people and have fun doing it.But Penn Fraser Jilltette taught me how to be a good human being. When I worried "who will take care of me if there is no God?" I wasn't only worrying about my health and general well-being, what worried me most was how I will be able to retain my morality and humanity, I was afraid that without God I will become a thief a rapist and a murderer. Yes, reading Dawkins' take on morality in The God Delusion
was somewhat comforting, but nowhere near as comforting as knowing an Atheist who's moral values will help me sleep better at night knowing I'm not going to wake up a psychopath. That fear vanished when I became acquainted with Penn Jillette.Throughout my journey out of the Hasidic world I found myself searching for good goyim. Having been told my entire life that all - even religious and especially Atheist - goyim are nothing but evil and filthy murderers, thieves, and idol-worshiping adulterers, I needed to prove to myself upon accepting the goyishe lifestyle that I was wrong. It didn't take long for me to find out that I had been lied to, for I became friends with many wonderful goyim and found the love of my life in a drop-dead-gorgeous Irish-Catholic shiksa from Arkansas.
But what about those evil Atheists who believe in nothing?
Well, the stripper helped. But for all I know, she could have been an abusive crack-whore mother who went from the club to shoplift from Walmart and whatnot. But my solace came packaged in a loud 6' 10' Atheist goy from Massachusetts.
Penn Jillette is one of the nicest, sweetest, most compassionate and empathetic person I have come to known. His sense of right and wrong is clear, and his morals are sound. During the three hours I spent with him over dinner, I learned lessons on how to treat another human being. As surprising as it might seem to some, I learned how to treat women. His unsurprisingly loud argument with a fellow diner over using condoms showed me a person who is incapable of harming another human being no matter what. Known to everyone as the loudmouth and foulmouthed talker, he became known to me as a listener, a listener to other people and their feelings. His presence is one of love and warmth. Writing this I find it difficult to articulate specifically what it was he said that had such a deep impact on me. Maybe it was my expectations of him versus the reality of who he is. Maybe I was - and still am - star-struck. But I like to believe it was because I have just met the "nice atheist" I have been looking for for so long.
Penn might be an Atheist, but he believes in being good. God might not exist, but who needs him when there's Penn Jillette?
Me and Penn
Really nice piece. Well written, and deeply heartfelt. You should put it on Unpious.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written, Luzer. That night at Traif was surprising and quite moving for us all.
ReplyDeleteMike Wills A.K.A. Pie (Short for Sweetiepie)
If your so against the Jewish lifestyle why the fuck are u still sporting those beautiful sidelocks n eversprouting beard?!?!?! Those are one of the first commandments for a Hasidic Jew to follow
ReplyDeleteIt's motivational, it's moving, it's helping me be more open about my atheism. Thank you very much for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI,too, read "God, no". I was disappointed that Penn couldn't express himself without cussing. I thought his ideas would have been clearer and the book considerably shorter. He mentioned that all the Hasids were married to Hasid women. I take it that you divorced. Do you still have contact with your extended family? That must be the hardest part.
ReplyDeleteActually I lost all respect for Penn when he did a story on PETA that I know was completely disingenuous. He was a role-model for intellectual rigor, but then I discovered even intelligent rationalists can be swayed by their agenda.
ReplyDeleteAs for moral atheists, I have many atheist friends. Not a single one has been able to explain to me how it is moral or ethical to eat the flesh of animals. (Religious people believe in the soul, that humans have higher souls than animals, and that God allows them to eat said flesh. Atheists do not believe in the soul or in God, and therefore have no such excuse.)
If you want to see if someone is an atheist because that is where his mind led him, or whether he is an atheist because it makes it easier for him to live a lifestyle his HEART or BODY wants, ask them if they're vegetarian or vegan. My understanding is that Luzer is not.