The God Who Wasn’t There

Posted by in Bible, Featured, General Atheism | 34 comments

 

Dear Christian,

I’m not there. I wasn’t in the operating room when your mother had cancer, I wasn’t in the car when your best friend crashed into the median, I wasn’t there when your favorite sports team won the big game. I didn’t show up to your son’s baptism, nor was I present when he was born. I didn’t stop thousands of children from being abused in my supposed house of worship, I didn’t prevent the genocide against my own people at the hands of Adolf Hitler.

I have never been present in the most disease-infested, impoverished continent on the planet. I don’t make it rain, regardless of how many people put their hands together and beg for it. I’ve never been in your schools, your homes, your churches, or your workplaces. I wasn’t there when a maniacal young man killed 26 people, many of whom were toddlers.

I never stopped any leader, in any part of the world, from waging war against others. I don’t care about people being executed, or fetuses being aborted, or gays being allowed to marry. Did it ever bother you that when randomly good things happen to people who live in civilized parts of the world, I always get credit – but when bad things happen in underdeveloped countries, it’s apparently going toward some sort of master plan of mine? There is no master plan. There never has been.

Have you really been convinced that I, the alleged sculptor of this complex reality, care about what human beings do? Did you convince your feeble mind that I care who a person chooses to love? You really think that I created the vastly confusing world of sub-atomic particles, but it bothers me when a woman menstruates?

Do you think I’m petty enough to only care about people who worship me? If I created the entire Universe, and gravity, and atoms, do you truly believe I’m ignorant enough to not recognize the fallibility of my own biological creations? Do you really think I created you, a mere human, in my image? Do you truly believe you’re the best I could have come up with? Do you think a parent who loves his children would allow them to senselessly murder, rape, and hurt one another every single day just so I could give you the ability to choose whether or not you spend an afterlife with me?

“You cannot conceive, nor can I, the appalling nature of the mercy of God,” said Graham Greene.

Do you know why you cannot understand it? Because I simply do not exist. I’ve never existed. I have never been there with you. I have never intervened on behalf of you. I have never helped you acquire a job, or meet that perfect match, or find your car keys. Young children die every single day from starvation, cancer, AIDS, and a slew of other things. If I do not care about the most innocent among you, what makes you think I would care about someone perfectly capable of taking care of themselves?

There is no place for children to go when they die. They cease to exist, much like you, one day, will cease to exist. Your grandmother is not seated next to the human version of myself that I sacrificed to create a loophole for rules that I designed. You will never see your loved ones again. I do not welcome the people you care about into some otherworldly place where everyone gets to sit around and worship me for all of eternity.

I’m not there, dear believer. I never have been.

The truth is, you always ask me to do things for you, but the only person who has the power to make the world a better place is reading this letter right now.

If you want to live in a world that’s peaceful, harmonious, and just – then it’s on you and the rest of your species to make it happen.

I have never had any power to make the world better. But, you do.

 

Sincerely,

The God Who Wasn’t There

 

 

  • http://www.facebook.com/Funky.Uncle.Matt Matt Begley

    Awesome!

  • http://www.facebook.com/smeller5 Sarah Masterson Eller

    Exactly.

  • Blake

    Oh my goodness this is inspirational to me.

  • TheUnpopularOpinionGuy

    Wow. So basically you are saying that everyone should just give up their faith and hope? That is really tolerant of you.

    • http://gamesgirlsgods.blogspot.com/ Feminerd

      Faith, yes. Hope, no. He’s actually advocating that people hope for and work for a better world.

    • http://twitter.com/Ro542124 Gideon

      So basically you are saying that nobody should ever criticize others’ religious viewpoints? That is really tolerant of you.

    • JohnnieCanuck

      Hope for what? A better world for us and our fellow passengers on this planet? That’s the whole point here.

      How sad it is to promote the idea that more suffering in this world is the way to achieve a promisory state of eternal bliss. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. You can’t even recognise a con job when you see it?

      Bliss without end. What would that have to be like?

      • Qwertyy650

        Mark Twain penned a remarkable description of what heaven must be like in his “Letters from the Earth”. It will make you smile. He talks about how people can barely stand being in church for one hour a week, but gleefully look forward to an eternity of the same kind of crap.

        • Karnamay

          Qwertyy, you gave me my laugh for the day! Thanx!

    • Anon

      If people accept that there is no giant omnipotent being who will step in at the last minute and fix things then it puts the accountability on people, rather than some imaginary god.

      It’s up to you and me, not Yahweh and Allah, to change this world for the better. Because we exist, they don’t.

    • Artor

      Do you expect children to keep believing in Santa even after they leave home & have their own kids? This is just pointing out that in the real world, where we base things on facts & evidence, there is no imaginary friend in the sky. Believing in one doesn’t make it so, and you’d be better off if you gave up your illusions and joined the reality-based community. But if you wish to keep on being delusional and confused, that’s up to you.

    • David Deal

      It means to quit wasting your time and efforts on silliness and deal with reality. Make things happen, do good deeds for the sake of goodness with no expectation of reward. Put your faith in your children, your spouse, your friends, and hope for the best but don’t sit around waiting for it to happen. Take action, be part of the solution instead of a bystander.
      Be pragmatic, rational and most of all generous within your means and compassionate and understanding of those less fortunate.

      • John

        So, I find it kind of funny that faithful Catholics agree with the commands of this comment entirely. They would just add on “and love God.”

        • Ron

          And what exactly is wrong with that John?

  • Pingback: An Open Letter to Christians… from God

  • http://twitter.com/Ro542124 Gideon

    Epicurean Paradox. So simple yet always so effective and relevant.

  • JB

    Faith is believing in something that isn’t based on fact. It’s a cop out !

  • http://twitter.com/firefly4f4 Andrew

    To be completely fair, while I agree with the letter, the Graham Greene quote does appear to be wrong, and perhaps a bit out of context, although I think the overall use of the quote would still stand if it was unaltered.

    The full quote, from “Brighton Rock”:
    “You can’t conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the appalling…
    strangeness of the mercy of God… If he [Pinkie] loved you, surely… that
    shows there was some good.”

  • wyocowboy

    AWESOME :-)

  • http://www.facebook.com/jeff.watson.3551 Jeff Watson

    love it

  • DJL

    The most insightful, thought-provoking letter I’ve read in the longest time. It would be nice for others to understand this message and take responsibility for this world. A hint hint…

  • http://www.facebook.com/larry.augustyn Larry Augustyn

    I believe this is true, and I sometimes wish I didn’t. I think people who believe in what is essentially a fantasy are happier and have an easier time of it in life. It’s very comforting to believe that something better awaits after death, both for oneself and for those we love. I’m not convinced that life does not continue in some form, not necessarily ‘better’ but in a different aspect of existence we can not yet understand. It has nothing to do with god or heaven or reward and punishment — just the nature of life and death and renewal. No one knows what awaits us, but I don’t believe in a personal god and angels and paradise and hell. One need not believe in all that to still consider the possibility that consciousness continues after physical death.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wasantha-Morawaka/1206664138 Wasantha Morawaka

    I think it makes sense(the letter) although many people will pray for things they want to achieve.In south Italy due to an earth quake a church collapsed and many died a decade ago.One of the perished woman’s husband shot and killed the church priest saying that he did not pray well and therefore god did not stop the disaster!

  • http://www.facebook.com/greg.siska.5 Greg Siska

    This is brilliant, but could it be reduced or condensed to fit on one page?

    I think a one page letter would be brilliant to print and distribute.

  • KEVIN

    ID RATHER BELIEVE WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND IN DEATH FIND OUT IM WRONG THAN TO DISBELIEVE AND TRY TO TAKE OTHERS WITH ME AND IN DEATH FIND OUT IM WRONG…GOD IS ALIVE….HE LOVES YOU..HE WANTS YOU…ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CALL HIM AND HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM..THRU PRAYERS..AND HEAVEN WILL BE YOUR REWARD….LIFE IS NOT THE END OF LIFE BUT ITS THE BIRTH OF ETERNAL LIFE THRU JESUS CHRIST

    • SimbaLover

      Please look up Pascals Wager and why that is not a good reason for believing ANYTHING. Also there have been thousands of “gods” in recorded human history – how do you know you chose the right one?

    • EvolutionKills

      How do you know? Can you prove anything? Do you have any evidence (remember, that The Bible is not evidence, it’s the claim)?

      I didn’t think so. If a god does exist, then he made me with a brain incapable of believe crazy, stupid, unsupported bullshit. I am so made I cannot believe, because ‘belief’ is not a choice. It is a conclusion built upon our understanding of reality. So you don’t know enough about the universe to understand how everything can exist without a god, congratulations. Not all of us are as ignorant as you, get used to it.

      To quote Bertrand Russel, “And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence”.

      You’re too afraid of death to think outside your box, I feel sorry for you.

  • wog

    Wow! I am a woman of faith. I believe in God and his everlasting love.

  • http://www.facebook.com/piet.vrijdenker Piet Vrijdenker

    Excellent. We are using this writing at our facebook and forum. Thank you!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/taotao93 Táo Tāo

    1. God does not care about stopping shit like genocide, wars etc. because He believes this is our freedom as human beings. He created so authentic an image and loves us so much that He does not want to constrain our freedom as He Himself has indefinite freedom and completely not constrained.

    2. God does not care about curing your diseases, preventing people from dying etc. because first, all such shits are completely brought to us by human beings ourselves. If Eve did not eat that apple which proves her defiance to God, God will continue to protect us from Satan’s attack. Unfortunately, we ourselves chose not to listen to God and be on our own. So God would just let us be on our own because He believes this is our freedom to do so. Second, in God’s eyes, it is no use to cure your body as you will definitely continue to sin after you are cured, including most believers, which in God’s eyes doesn’t make any sense.

    3. God does not care about people die “innocently” because in His eyes, it doesn’t matter you die because technically everyone will resurrect, including sinners. You don’t like death because you are still attached to this world in some way which God completely doesn’t give a fuck because in His eyes, this world is just all sin.

    It is as simple as above. God exists and He is reasonable.

    • EvolutionKills

      1. How do you know?

      2. How do you know?

      3. How do you know?

      Presuppositionalism is not a valid argument.

  • paul

    WOW….that was beautifully worded and pretty much says it all. Now if all the creationists out there would simply take the time to read this and let it sink in maybe a few would see how ridiculous worshipping a nonexistent ‘god’ really is.

  • Ron

    “If I created the entire Universe, and gravity, and atoms, do you truly
    believe I’m ignorant enough to not recognize the fallibility of my own
    biological creations?”

    God is well aware of our fallibility. From the beginning, we have been instilled with free will by Him. He was so aware of our failings and predisposition to sin, in fact, that he sent his only Son to shed his blood in atonement for them.

    • EvolutionKills

      So he’s aware of that, but entirely unaware that he could just FORGIVE everybody instead of killing himself as a sacrifice to himself to provide a loophole int he rules he created? His best plan is an elaborate Rube Goldbergh mechanism that results in a terrible human sacrifice?

      If this universe was created by some cosmic intelligence capable of creating everything, that being would be able to do better than that. For fuck’s sake, do you have any imagination or rational ability? How can you not see how terrible your mental enslavement is, that you can write that drivel with a straight face?

      You are a mental and emotional slave, wake up already!

  • http://www.facebook.com/samantha.matas Samantha Matas

    this is perfectly said.