I Will Never Apologize for Being a Skeptic (Part 1)

Our age practically demands it.

If you’re alive and reading this, you’ve probably undergone some painful schism over the past two years.

I know I have.

In the fall of 2020 I wanted to introduce my new partner to an old friend, a fellow writer. This friend and I had spent many years poring over and critiquing each other’s manuscripts, sitting at the pub talking endlessly about writing, our favorite authors, the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and everything else under the Sun. When I regretfully had to move away for work, he gave me a parting plaque that said: “One loyal friend is worth a thousand relatives.”

I was looking forward to the reunion. The three of us met at the old pub, discovered to our disappointment it was closed that day, so just chit-chatted out front. As almost every conversation did around those times, it immediately turned to all matters COVID. After a few minutes it became obvious that we were not on the same page, and with the most sneering, contemptuous tone I’ve ever heard this person use, he sa…