If I was a religious person, I would consider creationism nothing less than blasphemy. Do its adherents imagine that God is a cosmic hoaxer who has created that whole vast fossil record for the sole purpose of misleading mankind?

– Arthur C. Clarke

(seen on Life Without Faith, in a post about Clarke’s recent death)

(inspired by vjack’s post, and a little of Peter David)

Jesus’ last words on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” hardly seem like the words of a man who planned it that way. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure there is something wrong here.

Indeed.

A theist’s typical claim, on the other hand, is a little more complex: there is a god, and he is exactly like I think he is, wants what I think he wants, and hates what I think he hates.