Atheism is probably the most sincere compliment that an observant, critical, thinking human being can pay to God. Atheism is looking at out at the world, at the universe, seeing its chaos and glory and perfection and messiness, and then saying to God: "I don't see your hand anywhere, in any of this. I don't believe you created it. It's so perfect and logical, it could just as easily have sprung into being all by itself."
Now that's quality craftsmanship! That's well put-together.
Your strident Theists who argue that the evidence of God's involvement is littered all over creation are a bunch of blasphemers. They are calling God a hack! Think about it: let's say the universe was cobbled together so shoddily that there were seams showing, so that there was no way to interpret it in purely natural terms. Or, let's say the universe was not convincing as a closed system, capable of running in its own courses quite smoothly for eternity without an ounce of divine intervention. What would that say about the creator of such a wobbly, half-assed, non-self-sufficient universe? If the universe can't run without constant miraculous interference, then the creator did a shitty job. That's all there is to it.
But it does run quite well, thank you. With not an ounce of proof or a smidge of evidence left behind to show whodunnit. So perfect in conception that it could easily have sprung into being by itself. So flawless in execution that it stands on its own, with no outside assistance and no explanation required. The universe is the most perfect forgery ever executed, by a master artist who prefers to remain anonymous.
In other words: "good job, God!" You've fooled just about us all.
Not me, though. You haven't got me fooled.
Now that's quality craftsmanship! That's well put-together.
Your strident Theists who argue that the evidence of God's involvement is littered all over creation are a bunch of blasphemers. They are calling God a hack! Think about it: let's say the universe was cobbled together so shoddily that there were seams showing, so that there was no way to interpret it in purely natural terms. Or, let's say the universe was not convincing as a closed system, capable of running in its own courses quite smoothly for eternity without an ounce of divine intervention. What would that say about the creator of such a wobbly, half-assed, non-self-sufficient universe? If the universe can't run without constant miraculous interference, then the creator did a shitty job. That's all there is to it.
But it does run quite well, thank you. With not an ounce of proof or a smidge of evidence left behind to show whodunnit. So perfect in conception that it could easily have sprung into being by itself. So flawless in execution that it stands on its own, with no outside assistance and no explanation required. The universe is the most perfect forgery ever executed, by a master artist who prefers to remain anonymous.
In other words: "good job, God!" You've fooled just about us all.
Not me, though. You haven't got me fooled.
Comments
Oh wow, look at that painting! It's so magnificent in its color balance and so flawless in its execution it could only have sprung into being spontaneously!
You obviously don't really exist, Rembrandt.
Not so with the universe. In fact, the universe fits together so sensibly that we can easily conceive how it could have come into being by itself.
We can't make the same claim for any of Rembrandt's works. But that would be an unfair standard by which to judge him. The illusion of spontaneous generation wasn't what he was aiming for.
Just because the Atheist doesn't mean it as a compliment doesn't diminish it. It's like the time my high school art teacher gave me an F on my Salvador Dali paper, because she said I must have copied it from a book. She said it was too perfect.
The Atheist's "F" is God's "A+".