Outside, Looking In
• Skeptics & Atheists
Gil Gaudia dared to ask his teacher if Moses might have been a black man.
His homework was to write 500 times: "Moses was not a Negro. Moses was white."
The 8-year-old was not only humiliated to tears, he was confused. Neither his Catholic father nor his Jewish mother observed a cultural heritage, leaving Gaudia to pick up his religion on the streets. Which he did, at one time wearing both a Catholic Miraculous Medal and a Star of David around his neck, figuring the two symbols would double his clout with God.
Eventually he decided there are no Gods.
"What I've never understood is why, when I remark that I'm an atheist, people try to convert me. I don't try to convert them. If we get into a big argument, it just goes downhill."
Christians make sure pests of themselves.
Gaudia and his first and only wife, Jeanne, bought a second retirement home in Oregon to be close to their kids but have put it on the market. The problem: preachy neighbors.
"They came over as a group, and one of them placed a Bible between us and started citing Scripture. We can't socialize without getting a sermon."
Ron Wiggins, Palm Beach Post: Atheist feels he's on 'outside, looking in'