Almost by definition, this is a stupid thing to include in a super-hero comic, particularly inside a fictional universe as broad and detailed as the DCU. Number one, there's an awful lot of concentrated power wasting time in Gotham Cathedral that would be better utilized out there stomping Alex Luthor's mad scheme.

But number two, how can any of these guys consider themselves religious, given what they do for a living?

Part of the problem with bringing "our" religious ideas and history over into super-hero comics is that we tend to assume that it ("it" being religion, I suppose) would continue to play out the same in both worlds. But in the DCU (and Marvel as well), you're talking about fictional worlds far beyond our experience... where the characters routinely travel to distant planets and galaxies and dimensions with their own belief systems (or lack of belief systems)... where Zeus, Ares and the entire Greek god pantheon exist and regularly communicate with Earthly heroes (and the Norse gods, and Egyptian gods, and alien gods, etc)... and where magic and mysticism are a constant presence. So, if we assume that the Bible is identical in both worlds, how could anyone take it seriously? All you have to do is look out your front door during any given DC Event and you'll see a multitude of evidence that the Bible is of no greater consequence than any ancient text of gods and prophecy... of which the DCU has many.

I'm an atheist on this Earth. If I lived in the DC Earth, where at any moment my hometown could be turned upside down by extra-dimensional Imps or invaded by Amazons... well, I wouldn't see any choice but atheism. Or good old fashioned Founding Father he-made-everything-and-then-bailed deism, I suppose.

The conflict is brought into focus by a brief conversation between Mr. Terrific (atheist) and Ragman (Jewish) as they watch the majority of heroes gather for a presumably Christian or Catholic ceremony. Obviously basic population percentages work the same in the DCU as they do for us, since the book doesn't bother showing us any scenes of Ragman at that temple he mentions. And you can see DC desparately trying to ride the line here, since the church scenes do not include any crosses or mentions of "Jesus," just "Lord" and "God." Maybe it's Unitarian.

Anyway, Ragman's point to Mr. Terrific - and it's the point of every pro-Christian comics blogger out there - is that Terrific must be blind to reality. Ragman points to characters like the Spectre (who is usually described as being God's hand of vengeance) and Zauriel (an angel exiled from Heaven who moonlights as a super-hero). He also names a decidedly non-Christian hero, Deadman, a ghost who was granted the power of possession by the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna (which, from what I can tell, is a fictionalized take on elements of Hinduism anyway).

If I may put words into Mr. Terrific's mouth, I don't think he is in any way denying the reality and power of characters like the Spectre. Nor is he denying their metaphysical origins. What he's denying - what any atheist denies - is that some intelligent guiding persona created the universe with some unknowable purpose in mind. And in the DCU, where we can visit the anti-matter world of Qward, hold parley with the superintelligent primates of Africa's Gorilla City, and then travel to the 31st century to the galaxy-spanning utopia of the Legion of Super-Heroes... I'm just not seeing One Single God's Divine Plan in that. Neither does Mr. Terrific.

This goes for Hell as well, which we visit pretty regularly in DC books. Is Hell really rooted in Christian folklore, or is it just another dimensional plane full of demons and monsters? Maybe this is why Terrific doesn't buy into it: he knows guys who have been to Hell and fought their way out of it... which doesn't sound like the unescapable damnation sold in the Bible.

If I were Mr. Terrific, with the abilities and powers of the JSA at my disposal, I'd hop on the ol' Cosmic Treadmill, travel to "biblical" times, and see once and for all just what went down. I've read several stories where everybody goes back to "the beginning of time"... but none where somebody decides to go suss out the true Jesus. For crying out loud, I don't think anybody's even asked Vandal Savage about it, and he's an immortal caveman (The World's First Murderer, according to his resume.)

If "God" existed in the DCU, Darkseid would have found him and kicked his ass by now.

I suspect that's how atheism plays out in the DCU: the Christian mythology is no more worthy of reverence than the Cherokee or the Atlantean or the Martian. Asking for blessing and guidance during the Infinite Crisis is, in Mr. Terrific's opinion, a waste of time. In a world where myth is real and ultra-powerful gods show up every month, what is to prove that this particular God is any more important than Zeus or Odin or Highfather? Suppose he is just another self-proclaimed charlatan - with an army of "angels" and a kingdom of "Heaven" - like any number of alien beings the Justice League battles on a regular basis. A recent JLA Classified storyline had a techno-sentient alien whatsis go after the JLA to imprison them in their own private hells... and although at first we thought, wow, are they actually in Hell, it turned out to be a techno-sentient alien whatsis. How can a skeptic like Mr. Terrific not apply that reality to Christianity? The whole thing - Spectre included - could be easily explained by the same kind of junk he sees every day on the job. That's what he tries to point out to Ragman. Amazing things may happen in the DCU, but they don't indicate a Creator (as named by humans, anyway.)

As any atheist, Mr. Terrific just wants proof. That proof doesn't come from the ravings of the Spectre any more than it comes from Pat Robertson.