An encounter with street preachers

Had the chance to meet and speak with some street preachers from Tuttle, Oklahoma yesterday afternoon. Hardcore New Testament fire and brimstone stuff. As usual, I was struck by a strong sense of dissonance between how kind and friendly they are when you talk directly to them compared to how they come off from across the street, shouting about impending doom for sinners. Cannot say that the core message changed in either mode of discourse, but it is much easier to see people as human beings (rather than pop-culture caricatures) when speaking directly to them.

At any rate, I think it would be an interesting (if mildly dangerous) experiment to have a go at atheist street preaching. Has this been done yet, even as a gag? What book would we shout at people about? Have we even dedicated enough mental effort to any single tome to quote snippets from it more-or-less verbatim? Maybe someone like Daniel Fincke (Camels with Hammers) could pull this off by hurling Nietzche quotes at passerby, but the only books I’ve taken the trouble to memorise even in part are Douglas Adams novels. Then again, that might be worth a shot.

If you have any good ideas for what the brave heroes of atheism should yell out from street corners, please do let me know in the comments.