C/O Burj Al Arab Hotel, P.O. Box 74147, Dubai, UAE

Dear Al,

  I saw this postcard on My way through Changi Airport in Singapore and it reminded Me that I’ve been meaning to write.  I know We’ve had Our differences over the millenia and, of course, You’re certainly a hack and an intellectual property thief, but when You get right down to it, We are members of the same club.  We’re both deities and deities have to stick together.  Magic is thicker than water, as they say.

  On those rare occasions when You take a break from urging Your brand-loyalists to beat their wives and daughters for honor, burn Hello Kitty in effigy and declare fatwas against cottage cheese You must have noticed how dangerous My new Chosen People, the atheists, have become.  As I like to do with all of My Chosen People occasionally, it’s about time for a pogrom or a holocaust or some such.  Of course, it’s all part of My Ineffable Plan and all, but it seems to Me that there’s no reason My Ineffable Plan can’t have room for, (pardon the pun), an unholy alliance.  I propose that We get a few of Our old deity school chums together to lay a righteous smack-down on these loudmouth atheists of Mine.  It would also show that no matter what We might say about one another over drinks in the Deity Club bar, We’re just like any group of friends… with super magical powers.  Say you don’t believe in one of Us, and you’ve said it about all of Us.

  I know You’ll agree that it’s very, very alarming that almost 3% of the population of Earth is atheist.   Obviously, My main concern is that We don’t get Our feelings hurt by this rising tsunami of atheism.  I’m doing this for You.  Not just You, Al, but for the Little guys, too.  Joseph Smith, Buddha, The Religiously-Applied Philosophy Formerly Known as Xenu; all of You.

  So let’s get together and show what a force for good We can be!  Come on!  Who’s with Me?!

…

  Right.  I just turned the omniscience on.  You dick; You were about to throw this postcard away.  Let Me put it to You this way, then:  What are You going to do if everyone stops paying into Your vacation fund?

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

Universe Gamma-33/Rho-Theta-7

Dear Everyone Everywhere,

  I know I promised I’d be there for your birthday this year, but something extremely important came up… as far as you know.

  Okay, look, the truth is, even though I made you a cake last year, you’re just getting too old for birthday parties.  I can’t show up in a clown suit on your birthday any more.  It’s just not dignified.  But don’t get all weepy about it, you’re a big universe now.  Anyway, it’s n0t like I forgot, exactly.  I grabbed this card on the way through Charles de Gaulle Airport.  It was the only one in a language I approve of.

  Right.  They’re calling My flight, so buck up, don’t cry and I hope you had a nice birthday.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

Somewhere in Chili Con Carne or Sopapilla or Huevos Rancheros

Dear Third-World Collectors of My Metallic Vacation Fund,

  When your horrible ordeal began, I had no idea that this rescue craze would be so popular.  If I’d known, I would have sent more than a handful of brand-loyalists to take credit on My behalf.  Actually, I thought you guys were goners.  When Republican Jesus called to tell Me how very big the rescue ratings were, I thought; Okay, it’s popular, but is it popular like crack cocaine or like gay bashing?  Is it popular like incessantly running your tongue over a broken tooth or like bigotry?  Like a train wreck or like date rape?  Certainly those are popular things, but do they get the kind of press I want to be associated with?  I have enough trouble distancing Myself from Glenn Beck.  The last thing I need is headlines like “Gawd Snuffs 33 Miners“.

  That’s one of the main reasons I stay out of the rescue business.  They’re just potential PR disasters.  Also, I’m on vacation.  Besides, I can usually count on My brand-loyalists giving Me credit when the rescue comes off and keeping their traps shut when it doesn’t.  They’re always giving Me great, (unpaid), PR.  If you listen to the brand-loyalists, I’m like some kind of super hero who swoops in and saves the day at the last minute.  The best thing about it, (other than the fact that I don’t have to interrupt My vacation and come to the middle of nowhere to fix someone else’s problems), is that hardly anyone ever wonders, “Hey, if omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent Gawd is rescuing miners and curing people’s cancer and finding their car keys; who’s causing all the problems in the first place?”  Of course, when some dickhole does ask uncomfortable questions, My, (again, unpaid), PR machine swings into gear and blames My professional scapegoat, Satan, or free will or something like that.  I can get the credit without doing anything, so why bother?

  So imagine My surprise when I found out I was trapped in that mine with you.  Like I say, I’m happy to take the credit for all the hard work the rescuers did, but unless that mine has room service, a spa and a top-notch concierge, I’m certain I wasn’t there.  In fact, I’d appreciate it if you’d stop telling people that.  What self-respecting deity would be caught dead down a dark, dangerous, boring hole in the ground?  Maybe Vulcan, but not This Guy.

  Anyway, glad you fellas made it out alright, thanks for the shout out and don’t forget to put a little something extra in the collection plate this week and a big something extra once your book deal comes through.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

1 Death and Taxes Way, The Underworld

Hey, You daughter-snatching son-of-a-gun,

  How are You?  I was just thinking of You last night and I decided to drop a line.  I was in New York City for Comic Con and I found Myself being chauffeured along Central Park West, looking at the trees changing color and it reminded Me that it’s time for Your wife to visit… You incestuous, kidnapping fucker.  Ha!  We really need to hang out again sometime.  I forgot what a blast You are.

  Anyway, I was near Central Park because I was invited to speak at the 10th Anniversary Isaac Asimov Debate:  Is Earth Unique?  Normally, I don’t even reply to these sorts of invitations, but a) I convinced the Hayden Planetarium to pay My airfare and b) the question’s a no-brainer, right?

  So I got there and it turned out that they wanted Me to share a stage with some sciencey types.  Well, You can imagine the Wrath of Me I unleashed!  There’s at least one PR intern at the American Museum of Natural History who will think twice before  she utters the words “You’ll go on after Professor Adams…” again.  After I maturely threw My drink in her face, made her cry and calmly stormed out, It occurred to Me that the only responsible thing to do would be to stand in the back of the audience and heckle.

  This is where it gets a little spooky, as far as You’re concerned.  Now remember, I had just been thinking of You moments before.  Guess who the first person to walk on stage was?  Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  Yeah, I know, right?  Your arch enemy.  It really brings home that “more things in Heaven and Earth” stuff, doesn’t it?  I was so flabbergasted that I forgot to heckle out loud and just harumphed a few times and once pretended to cough while saying “Bullshit”.  As You well know, the answer to the question is a simple “Yes”, since I created everything* 6,000 years ago, solely for the use of the human race**.  But the science types hemmed and hawed and blathered on about Goldilocks and liquid methane and plate tectonics and the Moon until I was bored stiff.  The long and short of the thing was that one of them, Brownlee, agreed with Me in an overly sciencey way and the other four will be roasting in Hell™ for all eternity.

  The only other things worth mentioning were that all the scientists were men, so even if they never even acknowledged Me, at least they had that going for them.  The other was that I punked all those science geeks in the end.  Some kid in the audience was asking a question and was about to use the term “intelligent life” when I wriggled My nose and made him say “intelligent design”.  Ha!  It caused a low moan to race through the audience.  In the end I’m calling it a win for Me, since they all went home with “intelligent design” planted in their heads.

  Let’s plan to get together in the Spring when the old ball and chain leaves.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

*  For a given set of “everything”.

**  As far as they know.

For Hand Delivery – Signature Required

Boys,

  From time to time, the waitress at the hotel pool takes a little longer than I’d like to refill My drink.  It’s during these long, dark teatimes of the soul, (to coin a phrase), that My mind sometimes wanders to the family business.  Now, before You start rolling Your eyes and muttering, “Oh, Mithras”, You just remember that I’m still, technically, the CEO.  Before You two start getting too big for Your loincloths, let Me remind You that I’m still Your father and You’re not too old for an old-fashioned smiting.

  Right.  Where was I?  Oh, yes.  It was during one of these interminable waits for a refill that I came up with some pretty good ideas for Our brand.  So listen up.

  It seems to Me that there are far too many, (>0), people not wearing Our brand logos.  As long as there are other brands with snappy logos out there, like Hindus with the elephants and arms, or Thorians with the hammer, or Macsters with their apples, then a certain percentage of the market is loyal to a brand that We don’t own a stake in.  To My mind, that’s just the same as stealing money out of My pocket.  And that… is the unforgivable sin.

  So, first of all, I want You two to come up with some new logos.  That cross and fish thing is beginning to make Me tired.  They were fine for a bunch of ignorant savages, 2,000 years ago, but this is the Me-damned 21st century!  Sure, when you couldn’t turn around without bumping into some poor slob being crucified, the cross was a great image to hitch Our wagon to.  Same thing with the fish.  When everyone who mattered lived around the Mediterranean rim, You could bet Your ass fish was on everyone’s minds.  But times have changed and, frankly, We’ve worn those images out.  We need something ubiquitous to the modern world, (by the way, thanks for that “word a day” calendar You got Me for Rosh Hashana).  I toyed with the idea of getting input from Pope Ratzi’s people, but I’m not sure that a tiny naked child would be universal enough.  Look around You.  What do You see?  Personally, I see minimum wage hotel employees ready to cater to My every whim.  Imagine You’re some unimportant nobody, though.  Some schmuck who has to catch the bus or carpool to work in the morning.  What’s this pathetic waste of skin going to see all day long at the office?  No, not internet porn… but close.  Computers!  Think about it.  We change our logo to a spiffy silhouette of the common computer, and before long We’re what people think of every time they sit down to generate the daily weenus report, every time they have a sneaky, shameful wank when the wife’s out shopping, every time they pay the heating bill.  I see no way this could go wrong for us.

  So, once You’ve rebranded, I want You to start with booze.  In My experience, a drink or three is something everyone has every day.  Slap the new logo on that before anything else.

  Second, and just as importantly, We’ve got to make sure that the current brand-loyalists push the new logo.  It’s no good switching if We don’t bring in new consumers.  Part and parcel of that is respect for the brand.  Brand-loyalists must, must, must insist on universal respect.  That’s why I’ve attached the hamster comic.  On the one hand, everyone likes cute animals, and on the other, it’s an excellent instruction manual for them.  I understand the competition, (Allah, LLC), has had excellent results with this same policy.  So make sure You disseminate this video instruction to all branches.

  Okay, they’re boarding first class now, so I’ve got to go.  Keep up the good work, or whatever, and I’ll see You at the centennial board meeting.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

Somewhere In The Land of Evil Atheists

Dear Ratty,

  I was browsing the duty-free shop in Madrid Airport today and found Myself thinking of Nazis.  Then, for some reason, children.  The combination, naturally, made me think of child-rape; which, in turn, lead to you.  Then I thought how sort of ironic it was that thinking of Nazis, children and kiddy-rape would cause Me to think of My favorite Hitler Youth.  It was right then, and this is where it gets kind of spooky, that I spotted the attached music box.  I saw it and I couldn’t resist.

Wish You Were here,

~Gawd

Earth, Sol System, Milky Way

Dear Brand-Loyalists, Former Chosen People and Allah’s Misguided Hellbound Suckers,

  You may have recently heard a wild rumour that My immutable laws of physics vary from place to place in the universe.  This uncomfortable thought may leave you with niggling doubts that I created the entire thing solely for your pleasure and use.  In fact, some of you may have been wondering why I would create something for you which you can’t use the vast majority of, can’t physically reach or even see.  Let Me assure you that nothing could be farther from the truth… as far as you know.

  Further, let Me categorically state that you were not a mistake I made in a lab class in Deity School.  Any idea that the 14 billion year old universe I whipped up in six days 6,000 years ago was not entirely so that you would have a place to live while you sing songs about how great I am and give Me money on a weekly basis is pure poppycock.

  I assure you that all those wars you’ve fought in My name have not only been at My ultimate behest and for the best of all those other people you killed, but also an integral part of My over-all ineffable universal plan.  Which, by the way, is, as I say, ineffable.  So don’t try to understand it.  You are not equipped to eff it.

  Also, those of you who have been scratching your heads about My omnipotence might want to ponder this little thought.  Could it be that I have created different parts of the universe with different physics so that somewhere in the Gamma-Zed-& quadrant I can make a rock that’s too heavy for Me to lift?  I think you and I both know the answer to that question.

  Any of you who have inadvertently begun thinking and are wondering, “If Gawd created this universe, then who created Gawd,” can shut your mental pieholes.    There are some things you’re not allowed to think about.  Actually, there are a lot of things you’re not allowed to think about, but this is right up there in the top five.  Besides, that’s a personal question that only someone rude and ill-bred would ask.

  Some of you by now, (though I hope not), have let your imaginations get the better of you and are beginning to wonder why a loving and perfect deity, (Me, in this case), would allow so much, (or, indeed, any), suffering and evil to exist.  Well, since you seem to like exercising your brains, let’s play a game of word-jumble.  Make a coherent sentence of this:  cakehole whinging your shut so again plan fucking ineffable My to down it’s.

  These answers may have led a few of you to wonder why I, a perfect deity, would need humans to constantly sing My praises and give Me money.  First of all, what’s the use of being perfect if no one knows?  Second, there are only two other ways to get money.  I could magic it into existence, just like the entire universe, but that would cause rampant inflation and I’d have to magic more and more and more until the economy could no longer support five-star hotels, first class travel and filet mignon avec sauce bernaise.  I think you and I would both be very sad to see that happen.  Conversely, I could do like you and work for it, (this includes stealing), but I don’t think anyone would like to see the omnipotent creator of everything lower Himself to that level.

  A number of you may still be mulling over questions like, “If Gawd knows everything, then how can there be such a thing as free will,” or “Why would an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful Gawd design me with a bad back, bum knees, a dodgey ticker, weak bladder, acne, a susceptibility to syphilis and male-pattern baldness?”  The first answer is simple.  There just is.  Don’t think about it.  The second might be a little hard for you to follow, but try to keep up.

  The reason you, specifically and generally, are a fucking mess is as follows:  My original design was perfect, (and not, as I’ve pointed out, an unfortunate lab accident).  But then the first woman sinned… which I totally knew was going to happen.  It was not in any way a surprise, (and not just because this is a woman We’re talking about here), which I did not have to suss out by spotting the apple core at Eve’s feet.  Because, as I may have mentioned; omniscience.  Anyway, sin was not part of the original blueprints, though, as I say, I absolutely knew it was going to happen.  So I was so angry about this sin I unequivocally knew about beforehand and I, naturally, introduced a number of purposeful flaws in order to remind all humans past and present how much this particular part of My ineffable plan pissed Me off.  In fact, this thing I knew about beforehand, inserted into My Big Plan and completely expected pissed Me off so much that I put retroactive design flaws into every single living thing, whether they had anything to do with the fruit fiasco or not.

  There.  I’m glad you and I could have this frank and open discussion.  If any of you have any further doubts or questions, please feel free to reference this final comment.

  Don’t you worry your tithing little heads about it.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

Dear Weekend Supervillians,

  I heard, recently, about how you’re trying to play down the incontrovertible proof that I made the universe from scratch 6,000 years ago.  You’ve been trying to hide the fact that atomic decay rates are seasonal by stashing the story with that crazy, left-wing “news” agency, NBC.  Well, it’s not going to work.

  I admit, I almost didn’t notice until I went bowling with My old school chums, Geb & Nut.  We played ten frames and They both beat Me, but I noticed that some of Their pins were falling when they shouldn’t.  Now, it’s an unspoken rule that We never use Our omnipotence when We bowl, so I was ready to call shenanigans when I noticed that the pins all had strings attached to them.  On further investigation, I realized that it must be you, physicists, who were messing with My game.  You’ve been fucking with Me ever since that whole “the Earth is round” bullshit you started spreading about 20 years before I created the universe.

  This time, I’m going to nip it in the bud.  I’m telling you right now that the .001% yearly difference, or whatever this seasonal decay rate thing shows, proves once and for all that I am the one and only Gawd*, who created everything** and science, reason and all their pals can suck My big, fat nob.  So quit messing with My game and I won’t be forced to turn you into pillars of salt.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

*  All other deities excluded.

** Give or take.

Where You’re Not Wanted

Dear Annoying Atheist Proselytizers,

  I was visiting one of My top-tier tithers this weekend at his little 40-room bungalow and as we sat on the front porch Saturday morning, smoking a couple of nice Cohibas, what I can only assume were a couple of science nuts tried to get in the front gate to tell us “the good news”.  They were at the end of a 1/4 mile driveway, so I didn’t see them too well, but they were holding a book and shouting about this “good news” of theirs.  Presumably, it was that Darwin book and the good news was some drivel about genetics or some such.  It nearly ruined My morning; until the butler released the dogs.

  When will you atheists stop annoying people with information that they don’t want?  Look, I know you’re My New Chosen People and all, but that doesn’t give you any special prerogatives.  Just ask My old Chosen People, the Jews.  Sometimes I can’t wait for the atheist ghettos to open up.  Why can’t you be more like My brand loyalists?  You never see them out ruining My saturday morning.  I’ll bet they were all at home doing… well, whatever it is they do.  Preparing the Sunday morning tithe or boning up on My rules.  I can tell you where they weren’t.  They weren’t at the end of a certain driveway, embarrassing Me in front of one of My biggest donaters.

  You know, I’m as big a fan of science as the next deity.  Science is directly or indirectly responsible for some of My favorite things.  First class cabins in airplanes.  Solid gold toilets.  Electronic funds transfers.  Hell, I’m even pretty sure that science had something to do with limousines.  Just, why do you have to shove it in everyone’s faces?  I mean, really, you’re just making yourselves look ridiculous and you’re not making any friends.

  So here’s a little advice from your favorite deity.  If you really want to get your message across, just shut up and do whatever you can to make Me and My brand loyalists comfortable.  There.  Now I guess you can see where Solomon got his wisdom, eh?

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd

In Your Secret Underground Lairs

Dear Nerds and Rugbutters,

  I’ll bet you never thought you’d get a joint postcard, did you?  I mean, you’re not exactly peanut butter and chocolate, are you?  In this instance, though, you do have something in common.  You’re both getting dangerously close to a smiting by meddling in things which are not your concern.

  First and foremost; scientists.  You will be the death of Me yet, (Oh, I crack Me up!)  But seriously, you have been naughty, naughty.  When I closed down the Garden of Eden Amusement Park™ I did so for a good reason and for good.  But just because it’s abandoned doesn’t mean you can trespass.  And syrup-chugger scientists don’t get a pass just because it happens to be in Canada.  I know you’re all socialized up there, but private property is still private property.  No one can say that I’m not a compassionate deity, but how could I look My old school chum, Invisible Hand of Capitalism, in the [invisible] eye if I let you use something I own, even if I’m not using it anymore?  As I’m sure you’ll agree, the very thought is sickening.

   So here is what I propose.  I’ll let you take isotope samples and what-have-you from the oldest place on Earth and I’ll charge a special scientist rate.  I believe surgeons fall under the heading of “scientists”, right?  At least, that’s what Asclepius told Me once, and if you can’t trust your doctor, who can you trust?  So I’ll charge you at the same rate He charges Me when I get a dose of “Cupid’s Itch”; $500 per hour.  Just think of yourselves as My little social disease bank from now on.

  Right.  That’s you taken care of.  Now for the Muslims.

  The reason I’m using the same postcard for you and for the scientists is that I’m hoping, even though you’re somebody else’s, (Hack!  Hack!), brand-loyalists, that maybe some of the scientific method will rub off on you.  Not too much, of course.  Me knows, I’m not exactly an advocate of science, except where it intersects with first-class travel and accommodation.  However, you’re really making asses of yourselves.  Normally, I’d just drop Allah, (hack thief of My intellectual property that He is), an elegantly hand-written letter simply saying “Ha Ha!!!”  Unfortunately, you’ve kind of jumped the shark this time and it begins to put all deities in a bad light.  As I am a subset of “all deities”, (there’s a little science talk for you), I’m taking this unprecedented step to rectify the situation.

  I don’t, usually, have a problem with tacky crap.  An extra big “Big Ben” in a gravitational dead zone, in “perfect alignment with magnetic north”, where you can get “charged with energy” is alright.  A little wooey, but alright.  On the other hand… two million LED lights?  Really Muslims?  Now I’m just starting to think that you’re compensating for something.

  So do us all a favor and scrap that thing.  If not, at the very least be sure to keep insisting that Allah, (Hack!), is the One True Gawd.

Wish You Were Here,

~Gawd