Lament #0015 - The Golden Rule, simple as that.

I admire and respect those with opinions which defer from my own.

That said, there is one particular crowd of people which, more than anything, perplex me. Those who once believed in God, and who now, for various "tragic" reasons, deny His existence yet hate Him all the same. That's very oxymoronic.

Allow me to truly lament for a moment, by recounting a few of the more eventful moments of my life over the past two years:

1. My then-twelve year old sister contracted an auto-immune disease called "juvenile bacterial arthritis" which caused her to lose most of her hair and grow a type of fungus on her skin as her muscles deteriorated and she was reduced to being pushed in a wheelchair. My family was turned into the state by a doctor for "child abuse", though the doctor knew the circumstances behind my sister's brittle appearance. I almost lost my younger siblings; luckily we could prove there was no abuse going on. We took my sister to specialists in a large hospital who declared "there is no cure." My mom refused to believe it, and took her far away from people who constantly talked about my sister's "impending death." For one year my sister struggled to survive. One day, a light came on and she realized she wanted to live. Pleading with God, she fought to make it through, and now my sister looks as though she was never ill for a second. She runs around, boundless energy coursing through her healthy bones. There are no remains of scars from the fungus, and her hair has grown back as lush and thick as before.

2. With the economy's struggles, my dad was laid off work. His van was repossessed by the bank.

3. My car's transmission just died; I had no warranty, and so the money must come from my own pocket. I still don't have the means to pay it.

4. This last December my parents' home burned to the ground. My family lost everything within it, and several precious pets died in its intense flames. Something told my parents to leave my younger brother with me, rather than alone in their home. He was spared from death.

I don't hate God. Tragedy isn't a good enough reason for that. We can't blame someone else for life's surprises--we certainly don't hate God when something good happens.

You may choose not to believe in God. That is your right. Personally I choose to believe in a divine power. I don't go around attacking other people simply because they have different beliefs from my own. I would appreciate the same courtesy from those around me.

Life is too short to spend it pointing fingers and attacking others. Try kindness. When it comes back to you, it's not so bad as other repercussions might be