"An infidel said to Muhammad, I will believe you when this lizard does, and pulled a green lizard from his sleeve."
This tiny story comes from the oral tradition of Islam. And yet, small as it is, it has big implications for what we are supposed to believe in on the verge of a Global Age.
Of course, today many people say they don't believe--some very loudly, some not. The quiet ones can't even be bothered to call themselves atheists. For such people, non-belief brings a sort of peace--because they really are done with God. They have no expectations apart from this world and are content to rest within it, and work within it, to be equitable and fair within it. They rarely despair over the non-existence of God or contemplate suicide. They are resolved to endure its hardships and enjoy its blessings for as long as they possibly can. The one thing they never do is write books on atheism. They have no score to settle and no anger to vent. What would be the point? The true atheist is as rare as the true believer, because peaceful souls are rare.
That leaves the rest us somewhere in the middle, saying we believe, and maybe wanting to believe, but with the kind of belief that can't pass the test of a lizard.
