As an atheist I don't care what conception religious people have of their 'God'; while it remains private, it's up to them. The problem arises when they sugges

As an atheist I don't care what conception religious people have of their 'God'; while it remains private, it's up to them. The problem arises when they suggest courses of action affecting other people, based (they say) on an indirect or direct communication with that God. Aside from its breathtaking arrogance, this is demonstrable fairy-tale-telling. Sadly the history of humanity is littered with the miserable results of this chain of command. This is not an argument along Dawkins' line. An internal religious life is perfectly possible provided one is clear that, as Simone Weil puts it 'God can only be present in creation under the form of absence' (tr) or 'necessity rules!'. Weil had a formidable intellect and this idea is far from mere incantation or nuttiness in her hands.