Diderot then wonders aloud why this all-powerful being only intervenes in the interest of his immediate worshippers, and lets thousands die on a daily basis: “Regarding the portrait of the deity that [some] have painted, regarding His tendency to anger, regarding the severity of His revenge, regarding the disparity between those whom He lets perish and those to whom He deigns to lend a hand…[bearing all this in mind], the most decent soul would be tempted to wish that this God did not
