That’s rich, coming as it does from the atheist and socialist Mark Twain. :’P Thanks FGS.
Dude!
You rock!
One would think he might have had more sympathy for the scientific community® eh? Be that as it may, from some accounts he experienced an awakening in his later years and softened his criticism of The Almighty. And for that matter, maybe his progressive political tendencies as well. Dunno about that.
In any case, it's easy enough to be cynical towards God because of our lack of understanding of His MO. Been there, done that myself in an earlier life. Maybe ol' Sam knew enough of God to realize He would not smite the old reprobate for his blasphemy. After all, the planet would have very few inhabitants were He to raise His hand to every non-believer. Word would soon get around and leave the remaining occupants with no choice but to believe. NOT God's plan IMHO and generally not His style. But whadda I know???
-Mark Twain
also from Mark Twain:
“...armaments were not created chiefly for the protection of the nations but for their enslavement.” — Letter to Baroness von Suttner, 2/17/1898
and that sounds like Ike’s “every gun a theft” speech. Here’s one of Clemens’ that Ike used in WWII:
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”