Finding a Wallet on the Ground…

July 4, 2009 By Guest Contributor 20 Comments

The story in a nutshell:

“Bob” finds a wallet on the ground. He looks at the license and finds the address.

“Bob” returns the wallet to its rightful owner. No money is missing.

The owner is stunned… and thankful.

The owner tells his wife. Now, both are thankful. Praise God they say.

A child comes in the room. Both parents point to the man, telling their child there are still kind, decent, honest people in the world.

Praise God they all say.

“Bob” doesn’t praise God. The family doesn’t understand. “Bob” tells them he’s an atheist.

Everything gets weird and silent and awkward.

(via WhyWontGodHealAmputees)

Filed Under: Atheist Generosity, General 20 Comments
  • http://www.ragingrev.com Matt Oxley

    they should be saying “Praise Bob” instead.

  • http://miketheinfidel.blogspot.com/ MikeTheInfidel

    What the story doesn’t mention is that Bob is also a koala. But they’re okay with that, because he’s a Christian koala… or so they think!

  • capt’n john

    It seems to me that the recipients of the wallet would be far better off thanking the person who returned the wallet. Then, at least the right party will receive the thanks.

  • Richard Wade

    Sounds like the family’s ground of reality has been terribly shaken:

    An atheist being kind, decent and honest!

    An atheist, whose mere existence is a deep insult to believers, is telling them he’s an atheist in a polite, quiet and respectful way!

    The center cannot hold! The universe makes no sense! Space and time are unraveling! I’m melting, melting. Ohhhhh, what a world, what a world. … I’m going…ohhhhhhh..ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. …

  • http://superstitionfree.blogspot.com Robert Madewell

    Oh noes! Not an honest atheist! How will their world-view ever recover?

  • littlejohn

    I’m not sure how to test this, but I suspect atheists, in general, would be much more likely than believers to return a wallet. Our prisons are full of devout believers.

  • http://www.examiner.com/x-8947-LA-Atheism-Examinerhttp:// dfledermaus

    How will their world view ever recover?

    With ease, of course. Humans have a nearly infinite capacity to rationalize away any evidence that doesn’t fit their world view.

  • mikespeir

    God used him despite himself, to manifest God’s glory…or something.

  • http://gaytheistagenda.lavenderliberal.com/ Buffy

    What? The atheist didn’t steal the money to support his drug habit, buy time with a prostitute or something? [/sarcasm]

  • http://hoverfrog.wordpress.com hoverfrog

    Clearly g0d dropped the wallet deliberately so that the rightful owner would have an opportunity to “save” a godless heathen. Sadly they failed to act with kindness and charity. I wonder how g0d will punish them. I suspect by making their son an atheist in later life.

    Wouldn’t that be ironic?

  • Chal

    Clearly it was a trick by the atheist to make atheism look good and steal the children.

    Why won’t anyone think of the children?

  • ethanol

    I’m not sure how to test this, but I suspect atheists, in general, would be much more likely than believers to return a wallet.

    Maybe, but probably not if you corrected for income

  • Brad

    See, even God can use an atheist.

  • CatBallou

    Our local newspaper has a feature every Sunday in which people “rant or rave” about personal events. Every damned week, someone writes about having a good outcome to a disaster—someone returned their wallet, someone helped them recover from a fall on the sidewalk, someone signaled a turn at an intersection—and the story concludes with “our faith in humanity is restored.” I always wonder what kind of shitty lives they’re usually living, that they’ve lost all faith in ordinary people doing the right thing.
    Maybe I’m naive, but I think that most of us, most of the time, want to do what’s right. And we know what’s right without having to resort to religious precepts. “Don’t be an ass****” seems to sum it up nicely.

  • Gordon

    I found money sitting in a cash machine outside the supermarket once. I didnt expect anything to come of it, but I brought it in and handed it in at Customer Services.

    They took my details, which seemed weird to me. Within an hour someone phoned me to thank me saying they couldnt believe it and they were sure the money would just be gone.

    But to me it just seemed like what anyone would do.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/78284495@N00/ Michel

    Narrow minds will never cease to shock & amaze me. I think it’s a pathology that one day should find it’s scientific cure.

  • bahramthered
  • jemand

    “you’re an atheist? Oh wait, there *IS* money missing!!! Pay up!”

  • Jim

    Yesterday, a lady at Six Flags came walking around looking for someone with jumper-cables. I offered mine and a jump. When they got their car started they all said, “Thank you sir, you’re a good christian man” I just smiled and said said, thanks, and went on my way. I did have a moment of hesitation where I wanted to say something snarky like, “Remember this, it was an atheist who helped you today.” but I just left.

  • http://www.banalleakage.com martymankins

    Sad to see how far a person will go to brush off the fact that a human being should be thanked for returning the wallet. I mean, he had no clue the wallet was missing, so there wasn’t some sort of prayer vigil going on, hoping their wallet would be returned.

    Good and honest people come in all packages, even of the non-believer variety.