Funny or Blasphemous?

I guess Leonard Pitts thinks he's being funny in a recent column, but he comes across to me as nothing less than blasphemous.

 

His scenario is that he and God are standing in line for the movies to see Monsters University. He says God is a big Billy Crystal fan. Leonard strikes up a conversation. He asks God if He's heard about the religious atheists. God wants to know if this is a "two rabbis" joke. No, Leonard replies, it's from a Pew research poll that shows that 12% of those who claim to be atheists pray to a "universal spirit." God replies that He hadn't heard -- His internet is down.

 

And the whole thing goes on that way. Leonard has God saying that He doesn't mind being called a "universal spirit." Perhaps Leonard has forgotten that God does put a lot of importance on what He's called and reverence for His name. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him."

 

Then Leonard, obviously ignorant of the Scripture, presumes to know the mind of God by having God say, "Faith and doubt do not oppose each other. They define each other, like light and shadow." Well, Leonard, what about, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways"? What do you do with "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." And how about "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." No, Leonard, I think you must have misheard, because I know that God does not contradict Himself. In fact, Leonard, I have a challenge for you. Get a concordance and look up all the references to doubt and unbelief and report to us how many of those references have a positive connotation.

 

Then God says that those people are just looking for Him someplace besides religion, and that's OK. Maybe they're not wrong, maybe religion is. He says that looking for Him is more important than finding Him. He tells Leonard that that's where true wisdom begins. I don't think so, Leonard. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." And what about all those people who looked for him but evidently didn't find him -- "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." It seems to me that finding Him was the eternally important part.
And then Leonard ascribes to God a global warming message -- God tells Leonard to recycle his water bottle. To which Leonard replies, "Yes, universal spirit."

 

Either Leonard is intentionally blasphemous, or he doesn't realize he's been duped by the master deceiver: "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Either way, Leonard is treading on very thin ice! And to top it all off, he's not even remotely funny.

 

"In line at the movies with God." The Dallas Morning News; July 10, 2013; p. 15A.