04-05-2012, 11:12 PM
I don't have anything against a belief in God. I think if He does exist, he's infinitely more complex and beautiful than the worship of inanimate objects can convey. I don't think a divine intelligence would demand our tears or futile rituals. Books have tempted me towards belief, such as one of my favourite novels, The Violent Bear It Away, which contains this marvellous passage: "'The Lord is preparing a prophet. The Lord is preparing a prophet with fire in his hand and eye and the prophet is moving toward the city with his warning. The prophet is coming with the Lord's message. 'Go warn the children of God,' saith the Lord, 'of the terrible speed of Justice.' Who will be left? Who will be left when the Lord's mercy strikes?'"
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe