Dear God,

I'm 10/10 sure that you're up there. You're definitely omnipotent (om-nip-patent), however, you definitely don't have morals. But I do appreciate the fact that you give some people solace. What I don't understand is why you treat the world like a sandbox. I'm an avid Sims player. I know it's fun to give people conflicting traits, then sit back and eat popcorn while spectating the clashes that arise. But if you really do exist, wouldn't you want everybody to at least agree on two basic truths(?): that you exist, and what your role is.

Without divisions caused by religion, history wouldn't have those iconic catastrophic events that were ignited by people in power citing You as their "green light". I know that time is just a godly construct, but you do recall The Crusades? Technically you started a 100 year-long Holy War between the Christians and the Muslims over an area of hot dust. Religion was that powerful back then. And it still is.

You're probably disappointed now that we've figured out some of your underlying natural laws. Don't worry, we still use you as reasoning for our actions all the time. I have friends that talk to you often whenever they need someone to console them. I'll give you that, God. You're a good listener. You're somebody that people gravitate towards in times of need. And if not you, then whoever is calling upon you. How many millions of children everyday recite your name as a symbol of unity? And how many United States Presidents have referenced you not only during their speeches after tragedies, but also during their inaugural addresses? You're also not bad at motivating people to think that their life has a purpose.

But it's when you start to vary in your manifestations that division arises. How do you expect people who believe in a vengeful and all-knowing God to interact with those who subscribe to paganism? Sure, there are examples where religions can peacefully co-exist. After the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, the Muslim community in the area raised $70,000 for the recovering synagogue. The Temple, the oldest synagogue in Atlanta, held a service where they encouraged the neighboring Christian and Muslim communities to attend. So yeah, sometimes religious divisions can be bridged to a point where practitioners of different faiths are unified, but sometimes the religious division is too great to be overcome. Motivated by passion for their manifestation of you, people shift to the extremes, and demonize those on the other side.

I'm talking forced conversions. To name one: Charlemagne and the German pagans in 785. 4,500 Saxons were killed for refusing to convert to Christianity. A more recent example: 1998, Kashmir (kushmere). 26 people, including women and children, were beheaded for refusing to denounce Hinduism and convert to Islam.

Why is it that you hold so much power over the way we interact with others? Yes, you encourage charity, but you also drive people to the extremes.

I'm not calling for you to be destroyed. Bad things happen when people lose faith. Look at Communist China- the government sponsored eradication of religion forced people into submitting to one man. When we remove You from the equation, Mankind just steps in with another mortal to worship and to look to guide their decisions. And without the supernatural guarantee of something after Life, we lose the will to live. That's something I can appreciate about your hands-off approach.

You leave space for us to wonder. You give people the option to have faith in you, or to reject you to pursue a logical lens of the world. And while you give us the freedom to engage in violent means of persuasion, you also give us the power to tone down the argument.

Sincerely,

An Irritated Sim