We arrived in Istanbul and met a big, boisterous guide who welcomed us to this ancient metropolis with a big smile, good English, and clean teeth. I always like to understand what matters to people. For our guide, Met, what matters is God. He’s translated the Koran into a few different languages and ensured me that there were only two types of people in this world: Muslims, and bad people. A Muslim, in his definition, is anyone who believes in God, in any religion, or even who just “leads a good life.” I’m a Muslim, according to him, because I clearly lead a good life, evidenced by my wife and children with me. Never mind that I’m Jewish.
Given that Rachel is an atheist, I asked him, “what about atheists.” “There are no atheists,” he told me. Only good people and bad people. You either lead a good life, or you don’t. He gave me a metaphor: “when you open Google Maps to get directions, do you believe it? Of course you do! It’s right!”
While I use and appreciate Google Maps, I let him know that I only believe it sometimes, because it is in fact not always correct and makes all sorts of mistakes. I tried taking the conversation further, but I think it will be a long road to convince Met that I will never consider myself a Muslim, religious conviction only works sometimes, and that science exists because we believe that our ideas are only our current Best-Guesses, and not The Truth.
