How Many Times Can They Make Religulous?

Apparently, once more, at least.

Christians go to Church for the visible liturgical portrayal of the stories upon which they stake their understanding of the cosmos. Atheists go to movie theatres, evidently. If I were an atheist, I’d find it a thrill, I suppose, the first time I walked into a cavernous dark room and saw an immense face made of light telling me (and all the other people around me) that we’re right and there is no God and, man, aren’t most people soooo stupid. It would feel like vindication. It would feel subversive of the dominant paradigm. I can see how that thrill would maybe bring me back for a couple more jolts. Kinda fun.

But then what? Christians have notoriously had a hard time getting bored in Church, where (if Catholcs are right) they are actually participating, live and in color, in the actual re-presentation of the death and resurrection of the incarnate God himself and then bodily taking Him into their very being in the sacrament of Holy Communion. It’s the most astonishing thing any human being could ever do. It’s landing on the moon, getting married, storming Normandy, seeing the dead rise, foreseeing the end of the world and riding the Colorado River all at once.

And we still yawn through it.

So: if Christians can struggle with boredom in their liturgies (which are about the most interesting thing that there ever could be), how long can atheists maintain their attention span (and pass any slight interest on to their kids) when going to see the third or fourth iteration of “There is no God. Believers are dumb. You are an unusually clever piece of meat that arose by accident and are destined for oblivion. So be moral and show those stupid believers what for.”

I can’t help but think that this is a diminishing returns proposition.