Aching God (Iconoclasts, #1)

by Mike Shel

Were all prayers to any god no more than begging for mercy? From beings who possessed the power to make all suffering vanish if they saw fit to do so? Would he not end unnecessary pain for humankind if he had the power to grant it? Was devotion to the gods something so crude? A protection racket run by capricious, almighty thugs who lacked the elementary human kindness to alleviate suffering without abject pleading, or some form of payment?

“When he can’t be brought to heel with the whip, he can be bought for a coin, a crown, or a cunt. Man is an animal; we gods are his masters.”