Available at TAM10, my new skeptic children’s book “Fairy Tales, Fairly Told”. All proceeds from books sold at TAM go to the JREF for skeptic education for children! So consider picking up a copy while you are attending The Amazing Meeting 10. The atheist story is included here for your enjoyment.
The Three Diverse Pigs
Once upon a time there was a village where many pigs lived. The pigs enjoyed having their village. There was a pig mayor, and the pig fire department, and pig doctors and pig lawyers. Even the police officers did not mind being called “Pigs” because they were all pigs!
Still, with so many pigs, the village became very crowded. One day three pigs decided they would build homes outside the village near the edge of the woods. The other pigs in the village warned the three pigs. “No one lives near the woods as there is a wolf that lives there. He likes to huff and puff and blow down houses!”. The pigs decided to build houses near the woods anyway. Each pig thought “Oh but the wolf will not huff and puff and blow down my house! I have a plan!”
The first pig built his home near the woods out of straw. It wasn’t a very sturdy house. It swayed whenever even the most gentle breeze blew. The first pig didn’t care. “I believe in God. I will build a shrine to him in my house, and if I pray to God every day He will protect me. God is far more powerful than any old wolf.” So the Pig built his shrine, and every night prayed for his home to be kept safe from the wolf. One day, sure enough, the wolf was walking by and saw the straw house. “This is almost too easy!” thought the wolf. He walked over to the straw house and knocked gently on the door so as not to knock it down. “Little pig, little pig, you had better leave as I am going to blow your house down!” The pig was not afraid, after all God would protect him and his house. “Go ahead wolf, I am not afraid!” The wold just shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t need to huff and puff. The wolf just gave a gentle sneeze, and the entire straw house fell down.
The pig was must surprised. He stood up and brushed off the straw from what used to be his house. He ran down the lane to the house of the second pig. The second pig had build his house out of sticks. It was somewhat stronger than straw, but not much. Still the second pig let the first pig in.
“What happened to you?” the second pig asked. The first pig was still shaking, “The wolf came and blew down my house!” The second pig was confused. “Why did you think a straw house would be safe from the wolf?” The first pig said “well I prayed to God, I thought He would keep me safe!”
The second pig just laughed. “How silly you are!” The first pig was insulted, “Well a house of sticks isn’t much stronger! Why do you think your house will be safe?” The second pig just looked smug. “Silly pig, you just believe in one god. I however believe in lots of gods. In my religion there are gods for looking after your crops, gods for making the sun shine, gods for making rain, and gods for keeping your home safe. I pray to all of them. There is just too much work for any one god!” The first pig looked around and saw the house of sticks was filled with shrines and drawings of many different gods.
At that moment the wolf, not tired at all from blowing down the house of straw, knocked at the door of the house of sticks. “Little pigs, Little pigs, you had better run away as I’m going to blow your house down!” The first pig trembled, but the second pig just laughed. “Go ahead wolf, you will find this house is protected by more than one god!”
So the wolf huffed and puffed, but not very hard really for the stick house was not strong, and blew the house of sticks down. The two pigs crawled out from the pile of sticks and ran down the road to the house of the third pig.
The pigs knocked on the door of the house of the third pig and begged to be let in. “Why what is the matter pig friends?” asked the third pig. “The wolf has blown down our houses!” they cried. The third pig was very kind. He made them some tea, and gave the pigs carrot cookies. The first and second pig then looked around at the house of the third pig. They noticed it looked very different than their houses. “Why, what is your house made out of?” asked the first pig. The third pig with pride, “Oh, my house is made out of bricks. I also have a very strong metal roof on the house. The door is made of oak, which is one of the strongest woods in the world. I designed it all with steel beams also. This is a very strong house.” The first and second pig were confused. “How did you learn to build a house like this?” they asked. The third pig said “I went to school and studied architecture. I also talked with a professor at Pig University about what materials would make a very strong house. Then I spent a long time building my home. I wanted a home strong enough so that it would be safe from any wolves that might want to blow it down.” The pigs were very confused. The second pig said “What gods to do you pray to keep your home safe?” The first pig said “Do you pray to my God?” The third pig shook his head. “No, I don’t believe in any god or gods. I believe in studying, learning and science. This is a very strong house and I trust that it will not fall down.”
The wolf at that moment knocked at the very strong oak door of the third pig. “Little pigs, little pigs, you had better leave! I’m going to blow down this house!” The first and second pig said “I think we should go, it really hurts when your house falls down on your head!” The third pig just sat calmly and said “Go ahead and try wolf!” The wolf huffed and puffed, and nothing happened. The house of bricks did not even shake. The wolf took a very deep breath and huffed and puffed even harder. Still the house did not move at all. The wolf was very confused. He had never had a house not fall down. Once again the wolf huffed and puffed and puffed and huffed. The wolf blew harder than he ever had before. The house stood firm. The wolf was exhausted. “I give up little pigs! I can’t blow this house down!”
The third pig opened the door. He invited the wolf to come in for tea and carrot cookies. The wolf was so tired he had to be helped to a chair. The first and second pig were very frightened of the wolf, but the third pig was not. The third pig asked the wolf, “Wolf, why do you blow down houses? It is very rude.” The wolf sighed and said “It is just that I like my privacy. I do not want a bunch of pigs living near me. I don’t know anything about pigs!” The third pig said “Well I think if you get to know us you will find that pigs are very nice neighbors.” The wolf looked around at the well built strong house and said “Pig, perhaps you could teach me how to build a strong house like this. Sometimes there are bad storms in the forest. My house is very leaky and I always get wet. Plus when the wind blows the house shakes.”
The third pig agreed to come help the wolf with his house. The first and second pig also asked for help to build strong houses. The third pig was glad to help all his neighbors. The third pig did advise the first and second pig, “If you choose to worship any god or gods, that is your business. But it is also important to get an education and use that knowledge to make your life safer and better!”.
The first and second pig agreed, and went back to school. The third pig helped everyone build strong safe houses. Everyone lived happily every after, being good neighbors at the edge of the forest.
……………………………………The End …………………………………
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT TAM10!
Related articles
- What TAM Means to Me (randi.org)
- Help others attend TAM 2012! (randi.org)
Share this:
Categories: Art, James Randi Educational Foundatioin - JREF, Skeptic, Travel
Two Different Girls 
Please note, the first edition is FULL of typos and Lulu “opps we lost a word there”. The Amazon edition will be all cleaned up. However, that makes the edition you can buy at TAM even MORE valuable. So, pick one up at TAM as the typos are not going to last!!
liked the ‘carrot cookies’…. and ‘pigs as neighbors’….