Today I had a peculiar experience. I was discussing religion with a coworker and, for the first time in recorded history, he backed down from an argument. This gentlemen, in addition to being my coworker, is also quite a bit smarter than I. Why would a man who could ordinarily debate circles around me yield to my arguments?

Because, he stated, the ideas I expressed were dangerous.

The opinions being vocalized were harmless from my perspective; that is, from the perspective of someone who has no fear of posthumous retribution. What I said was not new (that God murdered more people in the Bible than Satan) and it wasn’t nearly as important to me as his reaction.

He clammed up. He didn’t want to continue because he felt fear and he told me so. Not for himself but for my soul because, according to the Bible, his God has a special corner of Hell reserved for blasphemers like me (Matthew 12:32, Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10). Whether or not my words at that particular moment were blasphemous may depend on your definition of the word. If you consider questioning an obvious and important paradox in the Bible blasphemous, then consider me guilty as charged.

Call me crazy but I’d like to know the nature of God before I use him to calibrate my moral compass. This is typically Christian: deeming certain lines of questioning as blasphemous, unforgivable sins because one’s own beliefs won’t stand up to their scrutiny. If God exists, then he gave you a mind with which to think. Start using it.