The Case Against God ( Verse 2: Giving up the bottle)
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
― Epicurus
Let us conduct a thought experiment. Say we found out through means of scientific discovery that God exists, not in the Henry James-ion sense of existing in the mind of humans but in the deepest sense of reality. The reaction to this would undoubtably be varied. One would have to imagine that the members of one religion would rejoice. Mean while the other thousands of religions would be in somewhat of a sticky situation trying to explain to their followers what went wrong. However, a select few of which I am proud to count myself among would take a different approach. Our first question presented to the godhead; which would be more aptly regarded as a statement would go along the lines of; How dare you…
How dare you create a world full of evil and pain that is not our fault. Why create cancer and if you did not create it then why not stop it since you have the power to suspend the natural order. Why watch in silence as 99.9% of the species that have ever lived on this planet became extinct. Why watch humanity for at least 98,000 years with indifference as we suffered and died young. Why allow children to be raped by supposed followers of your divine order. Suicide bombings? Whats that about? I repeat; How dare you…
Moreover, what were you drinking whilst creating the universe? The Andromeda galaxy will in 5 billion years collide with our own and destroy everything in its path. Some design. Why is our sun going to expand into a red dwarf engulfing all our solar system into its fiery depths? Some design. Dinosaurs? Was the asteroid that killed them slowly and painfully so that you could have another go at drunkenly creating life. Some design.
On the topic of intervention, how do you decide which prayers to answer? St David was granted the ability to create a hill from thin air and yet when the prayers of those who were brutally murdered on 9/11 were made by innocent people who died in fear and pain you were mysteriously absent. What about Elizabeth Fritzl the young German woman kept captive by her father in the basement of their house for 24 years, raped and beaten continuously. Imagine how she must have prayed, imagine the cries to you she must have made. Until what? Until you decided that 24 years of rape was enough? How dare you…
The case is as follows. Suppose God exists, suppose he created the world, suppose the stories are true. He would be a genocidal, masochistic, fratricidal, infanticidal, misogynistic, homophobic, racist bastard and whilst creating the universe would have had to have been under the influence of LSD, Ketamine, Heroine or all three. It is for these reasons that it brings me great relief to know that he is not real and it is for these same reasons that must make you question those who wish he was.
