Atheist Meetup

We had our third Atheist Meetup at Vivo City on Tuesday evening. Being the first to arrive at the scene of the crime, I went to the alfresco part of Pacific Coffee and admired the dusk as it fell upon the sea. I had endured a torrid day at my gulag. My eyes hurt from staring at the computer screen and I nearly lost my temper during one incident at work. Leaning against the railing and staring into the deepening shadows, I began to feel a measure of calm. The dusk is indeed the most beautiful part of the day. Its colours are ever so subtle, their hues far deeper than any shades of colour viewed in harsh glaring sunlight. Where the dawn ushers in false hope, the dusk heralds the coming of night and its sibilant promise of blissful oblivion which awaits us all at the end of this arduous journey we call existence. Ah the night….

I am digressing. Alfie arrived soon after me. I hadn’t seen him since he went emo on us two years ago and I was struck by how much weight he put on. He bought along a youngish and nerdy-looking bloke, who introduced himself as David. He is a clerk in the air force, and looking at him, it is easy to see why he will never be selected for a combat vocation. We said hi and then got our refreshments at the counter.

Our right to stay secured, we introduced ourselves a bit more. Alfie gave him a summary of our atheist group’s history and explained the schism that happened the last time. I told him it was all water under the bridge and assured him nobody is bearing a grudge. I said that we have no time to keep the group going so it’s been a hiatus for quite a while now. The update concluded, we started to go into the main topic.

It was the same old question about how atheism could move forward, and despite our numerous attempts over the years, we still could not come to a fixed solution. Alfie said religion provides emotional benefits to its followers and it could be quite hard to substitute that. I totally agreed with his views and for now our little operation (if it be called even that) would be just a social network of sorts. I suggested that if any atheist group must be run like a business to stand a chance of prospering. Alfie thought I was thinking of making money out of it but I clarified that a business mindset didn’t necessarily entail an insistence on monetary gains. People who joined an organization always want to gain from it. These people (customers) must perceive that the product/service they will receive outweigh the costs they incur for joining the group. We must make them an offering they cannot refuse, and must constantly offer them the same level of and/or differentiated service. I also explained the importance of getting rid of unfavorable customers. Unfavorable customers include the following: People who join purely for ulterior motives (insurance agents and their ilk); nimrods (pseudo-intellectuals who seek to glorify themselves by quoting philosophies nobody cares about); non-committed people (the ‘see see look look’ kind); and other disruptive elements. David and Alfie also commented about the difficulty of setting up an official atheist organization in this shithole. Our regime would cramp down on any element they perceive as even marginally disruptive elements to the status quo. In the end, our consensus was that our internal and external analyses did not support the viability of establishing an atheistic movement in this shithole.

I asked Alfie about the previous atheist meetings. He said that two cnspecs turned up for the previous meetup. Apparently one was a serious atheist while her friend was less committed to the cause. This bit of intelligence interested me greatly, and I made further inquires. Alfie or David said they are studying in a local paper mill and are ‘all right’ in he looks department. I was appalled that I actually missed the previous meetup. If I could kick myself I could have done so. Surely, the fates are against me. The ONLY time two good broads turned up in an atheist meetup and I had to $^#@ miss it! It’s a fucking disgrace!

Speaking of cnspecs, at this point the topic shifted to the sorry existence we endured in this shithole. We spoke about how intellectual incapable our fellow Shitholers are, with me adding that it Shitholer women behave like dead fish in bed, are generally unappealing and quite incapable of independent thought even with their degrees. I was in my element. Alfie looked at me, mildly amused or shocked; David was quite….stunned. I then talked about how going to the Holy land improved my grasp of business fundamentals and explained, as I during slop with XH the other time, the strategic and tactical actions these entrepreneurs took in order to survive in the volatile environment in which they ply their trade. Funny how an atheist meetup can turn into a business lecture. I should be a lecturer.

We discussed more on politics and existence, and was soon joined by Samuel. This bloke is roughly my height but considerably wider in girth. He was held up by his sergeant major for spotting long hair. He is a clerk in his army unit. Funny how atheists tend to be young male with intellectual leanings and little physical inclinations (I am partly making a generalization against clerks).He was more expressive than David, who really should be more confident of himself. We continued our conversation in pretty much the same vein. It was quite notable that political discussions about this shithole and its regime often shift to an analysis on the U.S. political scene. The two are not really synonymous with each other but somehow we always find a way to make parallels and discuss them, sometimes relating one to the other, other times separating various aspects. Anyway, Samuel asserted that we would not be seeing a regime change and a change in sociocultural attitude even after the Old Dog Thief dies. Alfie and I agreed with him to a certain extent. Shitholers are just too apathetic and pathetic. We disagree insofar as the inevitably of change is concerned. As a lecturer of mine once said, “No dynasty lasts forever.” The real question is not whether change will happen, but the length of time it will take for them to occur. On the U.S portion of our discussion, it was more on the usual things about how the States is being dominated by religious fundamentalism and corporatism. Samuel seemed to think that the U.S will continue to remain a world power on account of its diversity and innovativeness. I quite disagreed, reasoning that other countries will soon catch up with it in the military and economic arenas.

Any further discussion was cut short with the Pacific Coffee staff announcing they would be closing the café soon. As we made our way out I suggested that we should have some sort of barbecue or other fun activities in future. After all, it would be boring if we sit at cafes all the time. They agreed but I doubt this will happen in the near future if it would at all. (Ah! Change….) Alfie said the next meetup is in two weeks time. Maybe more people will turn up, maybe not.