If someone asks if you are a God…

…you say "Yes!"

- Winston Zeddemore

From the DesNews:

A 10-year-old Nepalese girl was stripped of her title as a living goddess because she traveled overseas to promote a documentary about the centuries-old tradition, an official said Tuesday. Sajani Shakya had her status revoked because she broke with tradition by leaving the country, said Jaiprasad Regmi, chief of the government trust that manages the affairs of the living goddesses.

A Goddess is only as powerful as the bureaucracy that empowers her.

Recently the Wall Street Journal noted the rise in books attacking religion. Christopher Hitchen has written a fast-selling book called “God is not Great”. I haven’t read it and probably won’t, but judging the book from its title I wonder if Hitchen’s complaint isn’t really with God but with those mortals who manage the affairs of the Gods. For instance, his book’s title seems a response to the Arabic phrase “Allahu Akbar” or “God is Great” - the last words of Islamic suicide bombers, who manage God’s affairs by murdering people - usually other Muslims. But neither God nor the devil make people kill; a point Hitchen, an atheist, and I, a believer, agree on for different reasons.

Atheists will always have weak foes when attacking man-made Gods; but when they do, perhaps they are doing God a favor.