Author Genre(s) Science fiction Publication type anthology | Language English Published in Dangerous Visions Publication date December 1967 | |
"Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" is a science fiction short story by Damon Knight. It was first published in the anthology Dangerous Visions (1967). His agent refused to publish it and suggested the Atheist Journal in Moscow might buy, it but no one else would.
Summary
God arrives on Earth, ready to inflict the Day of Wrath on mankind, but finds that all life has already disappeared. The angels tell God that there has been a great war between England, Russia, China, and America which has wiped out all life on earth, and that the true end of days had already occurred through nuclear warfare. No living creatures, no water, no grass, nothing but dust and brittle stone remain on the world. All that remains of humanity is the phrase left by the last humans as a message to God, saying, "WE WERE HERE. WHERE WERE YOU?"