Respones to Arrogance Argument

It is often charged, “Who are you to question the Supreme Being? You must be really arrogant to think you can make up a better design than the most intelligent and all-knowing being there is!” The absurdity of this charge is that it is far more arrogant to assume you know so much about God and his plans and limitations that you can confidently excuse him for being a do-nothing no-show—and not only that, but with clearly absurd excuses even a human can see are ridiculous, much less a god. It is also hypocritical to say it is arrogant to claim to know something, and then arrogantly claim to know that.

There is nothing arrogant in using reason, or in believing only what there is evidence and reason to believe. Nor is there anything arrogant in honestly stating what we see to be the case, which is all I have done. If God is a reasonable being, and the world is so strange that even God can’t explain why he appears not to exist, he could not in good conscience condemn an atheist for his unbelief, since unbelief is then entirely reasonable. And if God is neither reasonable nor compassionate, there can be no comfort in seeking his eternal company, for you would then be condemned to an existence almost as terrible as hell itself, forever wallowing in the misery of seeing billions of good people suffer a needless and cruel torment below, while shivering above in the shadow of a coldhearted, all-powerful lunatic. And that would truly be absurd.