[BRIEF NOTE] You know missionaries are desperate when ...

Via alt.history.future's ongoing discussion about atheism and the future of the Czech Republic, an American missionary's despairing article about her utter failure to make converts in Prague.

Here, in Europe, you are dealing with a completely different mindset, then that of the United States. In America, nine out of ten people you stop on the street will tell you they believe in God. In Prague, nine out of ten people will tell you they do not believe in God. In America, people live in sin, and they know it. Here, people do not know what sin is. They enjoy a society where there is no right or wrong. In America, there is a church on almost every other corner. Here, the search for a church that is more than a historical building will take a while. And often when you do find one, it will be a church for English speakers only. Many churches do not even make an effort to reach Czech people. Both a Mormon and a Jehovah Witness have witnessed to me on the street since I have been here. Both were from English churches. They find their time is better spent reaching foreigners than the Czechs. They were both Americans that came to Prague to witness to other Americans. That says a great deal, I think.

This article at atheism.about.com goes into more detail about the effects of widespread atheism and agnosticism in the Czech Republic. I guess that the Czech Republic is a country I'll have to visit; it sounds nicely advanced.

[NON BLOG] Busy Sunday

I picked up the Sunday edition of the Toronto Star and the Economist's excellent The World in 2005 year-end survey. The World in ... is an excellent series; I've bought every one that's come out since 2000. This year's issue is good only because Arnold Schwarzenegger has an article inside on California that refers extensively to his career as the Terminator. Why not? schizmatic's suggestion that we live in the future predicted in the first Robocop movie is as credible and desirable as any clash of civilizations.

1. Today's CFTAG was brief, only two hours. It was good, though, with the central counterfactual question being a consideration of how to strengthen the Carolingian empire (a string of luck like that hitting early China, with a string of good emperors following Charlemagne) and how to assimilate the Vikings (it would be cool if the Vikings were to *Europe what the Qing were to 17th century China, still cooler if the Vikings were the *Europeans' janissaries). Other topics included a discussion of the general political, economic, and geopolitical deritus of our age.

2. appelle decided not to join talktooloose and myself for the Rheostatics' show at the Horseshoe Tavern today at 4 o'clock, with the The Hebrew School Dropouts opening. That's a pity, since the show was good. talktooloose thought that the opening group would need a couple hundred more shows to become really good and for the singer to actually sing to the audience; from my limited experience, I can only conclude that he's right. The Rheostatics were very good indeed, putting on an excellent show that featured (among other guest performers) Dave Bidini's young daughter doing lead vocals on "'Cause It's Almost Saturday Night." I had fun.

3. I managed to make dinner with bitterlawngnome, djjo, and danthered and sundry other guests this evening. koobear made an excellent brie en croute; the main course was good, and the port brought by M. refreshing.