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...enough to see it played out. What we do witness is a multi-year drought disposed of by a four-month deluge. We see that nature can be alternately fertile and desolate with intense unpredictability. We see earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and fires--all processes of a living planet--occur without any consideration for our homes, cities, and desires for permanence. The forces of nature go about their way with total indifference to our human presence.
Imagine indifference itself as a kind of power. How can human beings live according to a universe that does not even notice them, let alone consider them? How can mercy and justice be derived from natural forces that exemplify indifference because they posess no consciousness at all?
For some the answer is--"there must be an Entity like ourselves (conscious ego) that exists behind these forces, and who controls these forces. Everything is an expression of will, a divine will." With this the concept of God was born. Every religion, faith, and invention of 'God' so far has been, amongst other things, an attempt to escape the horrifying idea that the universe is ultimately and totally indifferent to us. Better the fires of Hell itself than to believe that there is no cosmic moral order, no scorekeeper, no witness, no judge, no reward or punishment in an afterlife, and no audience.
It is the same in our interactions with other humans. People demand an audience for their virtues and deeds. "Where is the value of an action," many unfortunately think "if no one is there to witness it?" Love and hatred are fine for most, as long as they are noticed. It is to be treated with utter indifference that is the greatest blow.
Now extend this hatred of indifference to nature. People would rather believe that tragedy and disaster are delivered upon their heads deliberately by a god with a plan and a higher purpose than to think that it happened for no reason whatsoever. All magnitude of tragedy can be endured so long as a purpose can be found in it. When none can be found the human survival instinct must manufacture one.
The Greeks could not endure suffering that had no purpose, so they invented an audience of gods to witness their suffering. Purpose was found in being a divine spectacle. The Jewish people could not endure slavery under their paganistic rulers, so they invented a single god that was over all others to be their liberator and protector. In each case a...
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More articles from American Atheist Magazine
Who's an Atheist?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor), June 22, 2004
Talking back., June 22, 2004
Founders understood the wisdom of leaving god out of government.(Lette..., June 22, 2004
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