An interlude

They told me God sat, on a throne in the sky –
I was little, and couldn’t be asking them ‘Why?’

Sam, the Christian policeman, called to see me again. I asked him if he were a ‘creationist’.
He laughed and said that he did not believe that God literally made the world in seven days (although he could have done so had he wanted to). He accepted Darwin’s theory of evolution but saw no reason to suppose that God was not behind it.
I told him about the TV programme I had seen, where this American evangelist, when questioned by Richard Dawkins about the ark and the problem of the dinosaurs, had replied: well Noah probably just carried the eggs – although it should be remembered that there were some small dinosaurs.
He laughed again and said: well that’s Americans for you. Which I thought was not much of an answer - and probably racist to boot.

I am confused. On the one hand I think the evolutionists are correct – it makes sense and it answers a lot of questions about human behaviour. I don’t believe in ‘original sin’ (although I have witnessed some sins which I thought were highly original). But I cannot believe that this life is all there is. And that is not just wishful thinking: there is much that I would accept as evidence (although Richard would not) of ‘something else’. I myself have had a so-called ‘supernatural experience’ for which I can find no rational explanation.

Sam didn’t stay long. He was on his way to a ‘Questions and Answers’ session at his church. He has asked me to come along one evening – when (and if) they let me out of here.

Oh, I can see Carol coming into the ward. How did she get past Greta? I must say she’s looking good – that orange hair really suits her, and she’s wearing her ‘fuck-me’ shoes! You would not think she was a grandmother. Of course she was married at seventeen. Not to Gary – he came much later. Her first husband was a childhood sweetheart – Jed. They first consummated their love in the chemistry-lab store cupboard. She was a monitor at the time and so had the key. She told me that forever after, the smell of sulphur turned her on. Which was just as well, since Gary farted in bed.