This is an old article, but as true today as it was in 2003. Odd how religion continues to be a thorn in the side of humans.
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man
Thomas Paine said belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man. Paine biographer John Keane points out that Paine criticized organized religion and the cruel-God concept, while at the same time defending "the idea of a benevolent Creator of the universe."
George W. Bush's God is so cruel that he wants Bush to massacre Iraqi children in order to "get" Saddam Hussein and install a puppet government, which he mislabels "democracy." The "God" whispering in George W. Bush's ear is cruel enough to sanction lying as a way to gain support for slaughtering innocents. This "God" also approved the widely reported U.S. bugging of United Nations members as a means to his murderous ends.
Evidently, this isn't the same God bending the Pope's ear, or speaking to the Dalai Lama, to former President Jimmy Carter, or countless other widely respected spiritual and political leaders and antiwar protesters, because that God is saying "don't massacre Iraqi babies based on lies." Whether one is religious, spiritual, agnostic or otherwise, it's hard for the clear thinking reader to deny there's something deceptive and, well, diabolical about George W. Bush's "God."
