They do this of course for at least two reasons: to discount the overwhelming longing for transcendence found among mankind, and to discredit those who are believers. After all, if we believe in God simply because there is some gene or meme that makes us do so, then there obviously are no good, solid rational reasons for doing so.
Of course two can play this game. It makes as much sense to argue there are no rational arguments for atheism. Instead, we simply have an atheism gene which forces some people to adhere to atheism. Indeed, in a totally materialistic world, our genes end up explaining – and causing – everything we do, believe or value. We are simply the product of our genes.
This is simply one oddity of atheism. Indeed, atheists are a strange bunch. They spend large hunks of their adult lives getting all hot and bothered about someone they claim does not exist. They spend zillions of hours informing us how lousy, bad, twisted, putrid and rotten God is.
It is about as sensible as me continuously telling everyone how wicked, demented, harmful and poisonous the Collingwood Football Club is – and then promptly informing one and all that no such thing as the Collingwood Footy Club even exists. Duh.
We had another brilliant example of all this in the Melbourne Age. Yes, you're right: resident God-hater Catherine Deveny is at it again. Another column full of bile, bitterness and anger aimed at a being who is not supposed to exist.
Now Ms Deveny is not a theologian, a philosopher, or even a mildly deep thinker. So one can easily dismiss her as just a raving misotheist. But she sadly has access to lots of people through her privileged position as an Age opinion writer. So a response is in order, especially since the Age has appeared to censor out any criticisms of her article in the letters' pages.
So what great pearls of wisdom does she offer us this time? Simply this: "God has narcissistic personality disorder." And her proof? Consider some of these sagacious insights:
"â– Feelings of grandiosity and self-importance (I am God); exaggerating accomplishments (I made you and the world) to the point of lying (I exist and there is a heaven); demands to be recognised as superior without commensurate achievements (Worship me and only me because I am great and almighty and I know everything).
â– Obsession with fantasies of success, power, brilliance, beauty or perfect love (I will love you, you will love me and we will live happily in eternity).
â– Conviction you are unique and special (I am almighty. I am the one and only God)."
Gee, for millennia mankind has thought that belief in God was a reasonable and valid human response. But here in a few short paragraphs it is all blown away. Thanks Catherine. I guess we can all get on with our lives now, given that you have so brilliantly overturned the wisdom and knowledge of human history.
Why didn't I see this earlier? Yes of course. God is just on a big ego trip. But wait a minute. If God doesn't exist, then how can we ascribe any properties or attributes to the divine? In fact, her complaints really sound like those of a spoiled five-year-old who really can't stand acknowledging or submitting to her own parents.
This really is a bit of a temper tantrum and dummy spit here. "I can't stand the idea of some grand being in the universe other than myself. I will not bow down to anyone or anything other than myself. Thanks, but I am really the centre of the universe, not God."
This is one long petulant childish rant, a shaking of the fist against a being she insists does not exist. Sorry, but this piece is simply more nonsense and insensibility from our resident misotheist. There may well be someone here suffering from a 'narcissistic personality disorder', but it is clearly not God. Indeed, there seems to be an obsessive-compulsive disorder at work here as well.
These continuous rants about God are becoming as predictable and tedious as they are acerbic and bitter. And all they really do is tell us about the complainant, not the object of the complaint. Just what exactly does this piece offer to constructive debate? Consider just one gem for instance: God, according to the divine Ms D, is into 'exaggerating accomplishments'. Sorry, but if I had created the universe and all that is in it, that might be something I would proudly splash around on my CV.
The truth is, humility is being known for you who are. For God to be honest with us and himself means to state clearly his accomplishments and attributes. Sorry, but those of Ms Deveny – and all of us – pale in comparison. Indeed, despite all her whining to the contrary, I bet even she cannot live in the world that she writes about.
What about her own children? When they were young and she set boundaries for them, telling them what to do, and exercising a bit of parental authority – all for their own good and safety – was she exhibiting "feelings of grandiosity and self-importance"? Was she having an "obsession with fantasies of success, power" and the like?
We are all in positions of authority and power at times. There is nothing wrong with that. That is how life works. And if there is a God, then by definition he would be the sum of all excellencies. One can be great, even perfect, without being narcissistic or egocentric.
Indeed, the Biblical definition of God – which is presumably what Ms Deveny is targeting – informs us quite clearly that this most supreme and powerful being is also one who stoops to our level, condescending to where we are at. The same hands that threw out the stars at the beginning of time become the hands nailed to a cross, as Jesus gives his life for us.
I don't see any arrogance or narcissism in that. I see love unlimited, and humility that no man has known. I see a God who is willing to temper justice with mercy, and pay the ultimate price to woo us back to himself.
This divine love is unconceivable. Yet all Ms Deveny can see is a picture of maybe her own poor parentage or upbringing. She seems to be projecting her own unresolved issues and problems onto the divine canvas. Perhaps she needs a bit of help here. We can pray for her. We might even suggest some helpful counselling.
But she really does need to grow up. Whatever her problems are, simply throwing out ugly rants at God is not going to solve anything. It will likely just make things worse. But the good news is, Jesus will continue to hold his nail scarred hands out to every one of us. Whether we accept his love, forgiveness, mercy and grace is completely up to us.
Or we can choose to go on in our mind-numbing and soul-destroying bitterness, resentment, and anger. Even secular folk know that this is not a good state to be in. But for the Age it seems to serve a purpose, and evidently it provides some momentary relief for Ms Deveny. I only hope she snaps out of her atheist delusions before things get any worse.