Adam,
Every theodicy that a believer may come up with will be always met with contempt by an atheist, for he has no intellectual respect for the theist. I find it usually a waste of time to debate with those who don't respect my intelligence but demand that I am in awe of theirs in turn. That's utterly unstimulating and boring. Since faith isn't an item for the atheist, any argument that depends on faith will ultimately fail to convince the atheist. And that's ok. We don't have to agree in order that we may live peacefully with each other. Yet, my hope is better than your void.
you're really no different from the Pope, the GB, priests, etc, who get financial rewards and ego-gratification from prancing about and acting like they're God's prophets on Earth. It's the oldest game in the (Holy) Book, but you just happen to be really bad at it.
Likewise, you're not great at being a nice person. Just wondering if you realize that fact.
Eden