From: http://www.atheistlloyd.com/Debunking/cbee.html         SML84

by Lloyd Harrison Whitling

This old saw comes around every once in a while, to act as a demonstration that theists (those who believe) don't believe in anything true, and so have to resort to personal attacks and slander to make themselves feel powerful and dominant. I am sure that, as an atheist, you've had a chance to read The Atheist Professor, but have you ever subjected its contents to analysis? What do you, as an atheist, see in this story and others like it? Since it is purple prose, I have colored it accordingly.

    Subject: The Navy C bee and the Atheist
      There are two things Navy C bee are always taught:
      1. Keep your priorities in order.
      2. Know when to act without hesitation.

     A college professor, a vowed atheist and active member of the A.C. L. U. was teaching his college class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated that once and for all he was going to prove that there was no God.  Addressing the ceiling he shouted: "GOD, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 minutes!!!!!"

"A vowed atheist" (sic), the college professor must have decided, after his run in with the marine in the original version of this story, that he might need legal advice and joined the ACLU. Although proclaimed to be an atheist, the professor apparently believed in a god that he could challenge, and also a god he could trust, but did not trust the Principles of Atheology which would lead to his not making such a foolish claim. Atheists do not believe in gods, and so would not behave this way (although many theists would in order to make an illicit point and discredit atheists in the only way they can). A true atheist knows it is not his responsibility to prove anything about any gods, that proof is an onus belonging to those who make claims, and that no evidence of any god's existence has ever been presented by those making that claim. The potent defeasibility principle applies very strongly here, a fact theists avoid and atheists tend to forget.

     The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by. "I'm waiting God, if you're real, knock me off this platform!!!"Again after four minutes, the professor taunted God saying, "Here I am, God-!! I'm still waiting!!!"
     His count down got down to the last couple minutes when a Navy C bee, who was just released from the Navy, after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and had newly registered for the class, walked up to the Professor.  The C bee hit him full force in the face. This sent the Professor tumbling from his platform. The Professor was out cold. The students were stunned and shocked.

Of course the students were stunned and shocked. The Seabee (excuse me, the C Bee) apparently had tired of the pretend atheist's ranting, knew gods that don't exist cannot respond to challenges, and took it upon himself to not give the god in which he apparently also did not believe a chance. After surviving Afghanistan and Iraq, this fearless atheist knew he had to act with force enough to shock the rest of the room into the normal thoughtlessness theists rely on for their endeavors with science. People must never get a chance to realize their own lack of belief, which they would often do if given a real opportunity to ponder it. Nothing less than a personal attack would do that job, since theism has no real truth to rely on, and no real truth to prove.

     They began to babble in confusion. The C bee nonchalantly took his seat in the front row and sat in silence. The class looked at him and fell silent also ... waiting. Eventually, the professor came to and was noticeably shaken. He looked at the C bee in the front row.  When the professor regained his senses and could speak, he asked: "What the heck is the matter with you? Why did you do that? "The C bee said, "God was really busy, protecting America's soldiers, who are protecting your right to say stupid things and act like an ass. So, He sent me."

Okay, so I realize this is only a story, but let's get real. A class of grownups (this is college, right?) are going to sit inactive after watching an act of violence? This is college, right? Is that not where people go to train in how to be leaders? What I get from this story is a good example of why Americans have become like a nation of sheep. We have gone from "take charge, can-do" to "sit back and let someone else take care of things". The Seabee had gained his training from the hands-on environment of the military. He did not rely on a god he knew to be nonexistent to suddenly appear before time ran out to save his own reputation. He knew he had to do it "Now!" while the sheep-in-training sat back and waited for the game to play out.

Finally, since the story omits any details about later events, and so we never get to see the Seabee arrested and charged for his crime, I suspect he acted in cahoots with the theistic professor to pull this scam off and make their point. As an atheist, I approve of the Seabee's final statement. Atheists don't need to say stupid things and act like asses to make their point. Had the professor been a real atheist, he would have known that all he has to do is teach his students how to think and they will eventually realize the truth for themselves. Those who are not sheep will follow through on that, and those who are sheep will find all kinds of ways to avoid that.

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"To deny a right to the experience of pleasure is immoral unless that denial can be justified by a valid presentation of how pain will result from that experience in an amount that would render the expected pleasure regrettable; or, if it can be shown that pain will be induced in others innocent of any involvement. The role of science in moral issues should be to test that, predict that, and find harmless ways to demonstrate that."

— L. H. Whitling in the eBook, Secular Morality —