Book Sample . . . Chapter 8 (part one)

This is a sample of the new book "No Argument for God" available now at Amazon for $9

JUST BE WHO YOU ARE. Some people would benefit from this

small maxim in big ways. Let’s face it, everyone knows when we

are trying to be something we are not. Let me take you to Salem,

Massachusetts, on Halloween night in the mid 1990s. I was in

school nearby and a few friends had asked if I was interested in

visiting the central park of downtown Salem on Halloween night .

Apparently witches and warlocks gather there on Halloween to

do whatever witches and warlocks do.

As we arrived it was clear that the town was filled

with people who were eager to celebrate Halloween and catch a

glimpse of a witch at the Witch House or go on the Witch Tour.

I am sure that if I were hungry I could have had a witch burger

with a magic potion side of coke and warlock fries . It was pretty

commercialized. I was told that on Halloween everyone tries to

get some time with a celebrated witch who lives on the main

street of Salem.

We made our way to the park where the lesser-known

witches would hang out, and it was like walking into a junior

high dance. Clusters of darkly clad people—some with hats and

capes, most with fake fang teeth, occupied different sections of

the park in their own little circles. At one point I was able to

strike up a conversation with a young man who I’ll call Roger.

He had tried, as the others did, to present himself as

unpredictable and dangerous, but it was clear that

Roger was a pretty average warlock, nothing especially frighten-

ing about him. I asked him where he became a warlock and what

it means. He began to mumble something about an amulet he was

wearing around his neck, a five-pointed star within a circle . He

called it a pentagram and described himself as a Wiccan, and told

me he worships Satan.

Wiccans don’t worship Satan, for the record. This was my clue

that he was confused and just trying to unnerve me; it didn’t

work. Imagine Napoleon Dynamite in a cape with fake fangs and

a five-pointed star around his neck, trying to convince you that

he is a real menace to good people everywhere . Well, I couldn’t

help myself. I asked to look more closely at his amulet and noticed

that the five pointed star was upright within the circle. I said,

“Roger, this is a pentacle, not a pentagram, you have an ancient

symbol that has been used by all kinds of people throughout his-

tory—Babylonians, Greeks, Wiccans—but they don’t worship

Satan with it, it represents the five elements.”

It was clear that Roger was posing as something that

he wasn’t. He stepped into me as if to confide something and said,

“Look, I’m just a computer programmer who comes out here each

year because the girls are hot.”
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So . . . what's the deal with Roger?  Check back Monday with part two of the sample.