Sometimes I get a response from a reader that leaves me stunned. Here is a recent example:
"Hi, What I find particularly annoying about Atheists is their zeal in explaining why there's no God, but never ever explain there's no Devil. Now, don't tell me that it's assumed; that's crap. My point is that Atheists never even talk about the Devil. It's as if Atheists do the Devils work: make up their own rules, treat others inappropriately, and have faith only in themselves. The perfect breeding ground for evil."
It had never occurred to me that if I was arguing against the existence of imaginary friends I also needed to argue against imaginary enemies, but what would I know! So, let me make it clear, I don't believe in any imaginary friends OR enemies, it is the imaginary part that, living in my stubbornly fact-based universe, I have trouble with. So, no, I don't believe in god or the devil, nor santa claus, cookie monster, tooth fairy, ghosts, things that go bump in the night.
But imaginary enemies seem to proliferate in real life, and some of them can seem like the very devil, if only when they live a long time. And imaginary friends too. So, no, I don't believe that Castro, or Chavez, or Ortega, or Hillary or Cindy or the Dixie Chicks, are devils (though clearly bin Laden and Omar are). And friends? Well, in the context of Iraq, I think real friends are those who tell you the truth, not what you want to hear, so France and Germany were real friends to America in 2002-3. And the UK and Australia, who backed George Bush all the way, were imaginary friends. And I think, by the way, that Hussein was an imaginary enemy anyway.
What my reader doesn't understand, I think, is that imaginary friends are used, both by religious and political leaders, to reward and to set an example; imaginary enemies are used to punish and warn. Don't question the truth of the bible, or of American capitalism or imperialism, or you will be punished, labelled a devil.
And Iraq? No flowers and cake walks, as the imaginary friends believed too, but 'the perfect breeding ground for evil' as the real friends warned. The moral? Choose your friends carefully, and make sure they are real. And your enemies.