Dear Penn Jillette: An Open Letter To My Favorite Atheist

Dear Penn,

You are a true thinker, and I like that in a person. I have seen your TV show, "Bull...t", (Forgive me, but I have to keep it PG for the kiddos.) and I recently saw your video blog "Penn Says", about your position that Christians should proselytize. I am a Christian, and I am greatly challenged by your words. As a singer/songwriter, themes of spirituality and my faith in Jesus are interwoven throughout my music, and I am not secretive about my beliefs. I am inspired by your words to seek out more opportunities to proselytize, or "witness" as many Christians call it. I have always liked to apply the word "witness" to this practice because I compare it to being witness in a courtroom. The purpose of the judge, jury and legal process is to prove the truth and then execute the just consequence for that truth. If I have seen or experienced something firsthand, wouldn't I be obligated to give an honest account of that occurrence for the sake of justice? If the story was being told incorrectly, wouldn't it be my duty to set it straight? I like your analogy, that if someone is about to be run over by a truck, any sane person would tackle them before the truck could hit them. So what do you do if the person doesn't believe in the truck?

I admit I'm a bit timid about witnessing, but not because I feel I am wrong. I know there is a God, and I know the way to find Him. I am sometimes shy to share this information because of how poorly some of my fellow Christians have gone about it. Unfortunately, much of the world views Christians as being arrogant, loudmouthed weirdos. I will be the first to admit that we definitely have some of those among us. But for the most part, we are simple people working out our salvation with humility for the knowledge of how very, very far from perfect we are. (No, I do not have a "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.." bumper sticker on my car. I am, however, strangely fascinated by the one that says, "Honk if you love Jesus." I've never honked because I'm afraid the person will forget why I'm honking, and flip me the bird. That would just be awkward for both of us.) Mohandas Gandhi said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." I respect Gandhi so much for sinking his heart, soul and body into what he believed in. Special props for fasting around all that Indian food! The dog that barks the loudest will always get the most attention. Jesus wasn't very much of a barker. He barked a couple of times, but usually at the self-righteous religious leaders who were filled with pride. The world hears the loudmouthed wierdos, but to practice true Christianity is to love people, love Jesus, and take care of the poor and less fortunate. I know many, many people who are living this out.

So I am re-inspired. You remind me of Jesus' disciple Peter. Peter was rough, bawdy and passionate. I believe with all my heart that if Jesus came in modern times instead of when He did, He would choose you. He would come right up to you and say, "Come with me, Penn. You have used television to reveal all the bull...t in the world, and now I'm going to show you how to expose bull...t for good." Jesus said, "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for". I know you are not an agnostic, so you are not necessarily seeking and asking, but what if you asked? What if there really is an answer? What if it's Jesus? I say all these things because I care about you. Jesus loves you, Penn, and let's face it, heaven would be so much more interesting with you in it. And don't worry, becoming a Christian will not magically turn you into a Republican.

Update 9/23/09
*Since the original posting of this blog I have been contacted by several atheists who have shown me that I do not have the actual definition of atheism or agnosticism correct. I have since learned that they are not mutually exclusive, and someone can indeed be both an atheist and an agnostic. Rather than change my original post, I'll just say that although Penn is a self-proclaimed atheist, it does not mean that he also can't be agnostic. He is too smart a guy to not be asking questions. I didn't mean to oversimplify. Thanks to my new friends!