Which is worse — that funding at an esteemed university went to this study, or that an editor found it newsworthy? As being reported in the Chicago Sun Times, researchers at the University of Chicago and Yale New Haven Hospital conducted a survey and found that many doctors out there will care for poor patients, despite the doctor’s religious leanings:

“We can say a lot of doctors are doing a lot of good, whether religious or not,” said Dr. Farr Curlin, one of the authors of the study, published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

The study is based on a survey of 2,000 doctors with a 63 percent response rate. Thirty-five percent of non-religious doctors, compared with 31 percent of religious doctors, said they were likely to care for people with little or no health insurance.

Possible headlines for tomorrow’s edition:

“Atheist Fireman Rescues Child From Building”

“Atheist Police Officer Doesn’t Kick Puppies”

“Atheist Target Cashier Gives Service With a Smile”

“Atheist Parent Raises Happy, Kind Children”

It’s that last one that troubles, because for me, a “devout” atheist, it doesn’t read as a joke. If the pervading thought is that doctors, who have taken the Hippocratic oath, will not be altruistic merely because they shun religion, what must people think of how I raise my children? It’s the same, tired argument that if one doesn’t have religion in their life, then there’s no “moral compass” to dictate what’s right and wrong. That raising children without religion will simply turn them into selfish relativists, apt to do whatever they want, whenever they want.

I won’t rehash that debate and how incredibly insulting it is, because quite frankly I’m tired of it. But I will say this — try and reflect on people that have treated you with kind acts in your lifetime. Take notice of the warm smiles and friendly gestures you encounter in your everyday life. Now be really honest and ask yourself if any of those people would have treated you any differently if they were atheists. Because maybe they were. Your neighbor, your kid’s teacher, the corner grocer — any one of them might hold a humanistic view of our life here on Earth. Even your doctor.

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When atheists and Christians raise children together, the result is often times competitive and humorous when the atheist tries to squelch the faith that the Christian tries to nurture. My mother, an Evangelical Christian, uses every opportunity to influence our children to the disgrace of their atheist father. Knowing that her Christian-in-theory-and-not-practice daughter and her heathen son-in-law aren’t going to properly “church” her grandchildren, Grandma has taken it upon herself to save them from the wrath of darkness, evil and hell. She does this, oh-so-subtly, by mailing us Christian inspired merchandise tucked in between other gifts like a t-shirt or toy. One of the recent offerings was a CD of Christian songs sung by a group of children.

My children love this CD, bestowing upon my husband a feeling of helplessness and pure annoyance. Not only does our 3-year-old love to turn it up like it’s Freedom Rock, both our kids sing along with robust glory and without inhibition.

As I said before, I’m a pseudo-Christian (I believe from afar — Sundays are for laying on the couch until noon) so I find this incredibly amusing. Prescott — not-so-much.

One of their favorite songs is Who built the Ark?, a ditty about Noah and his wacky adventures. The chorus is supposed to be, “Who built the Ark? Noah, Noah! Who built the Ark? Brother Noah built the Ark!” Prescott, however, has bastardized the song and worked his influence into an innocent and spiritual moment by teaching the kids new words to the song. We now have kids that, while in public, have no problem belting out, “Who built the Ark? No one! No one! Who built the Ark? No one really built the Ark!”

So, it’s gonna be like that, huh? Wait until I sell Holden on God-camp this summer. We will see who’s able to influence these young minds more.

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