I thought it was a well accepted fact that god will, evidently, manipulate the laws of physics just so some self-absorbed, ignorant person can boast how special they are while those around them are suffering. God also likes to manipulate most other facets of people's lives so that exams are passed, games won and promotions are won but has no interest in stopping war, curing disease or ending hunger. If he existed I'd probably hate god.

I was deeply troubled when my (now ex-) wife credited our daughter's survival from a premature birth as a "miracle", in other words a divine intervention (not just a miracle of medicine, which I will happily say it was). If "God" chose my daughter to be one of the 10-15% of babies that survive being born at 21 weeks, then what did we do to earn that? And what did all the other parents do that they should suffer the heartbreak of losing a child? Wasn't it more rational to ascribe her survival to statistical chance, and the luck that at a critical moment when she went into cardiac arrest, we happened to actually be leaving the hospital after a checkup and I could rush straight back in and call for the emergency room team? Plus the fact that we live less than 30 miles away from one of the premier children's hospitals in our area? As much as anything, that began my journey from "agnostic with many doubts" to official atheist.

This kind of thinking among the religious is hardly confined to natural disasters or medical survival, either. Soldiers who are convinced they were saved by a "miracle" don't think that their comrades were therefore doomed by the same miracle. Athletes pray for something as petty as victory at sports- imagine a deity who isn't so busy running the universe that he, she, or it can be bothered to pick the winning team on Sunday and fudge the odds in their favor. It's a form of myopia- people unable to see beyond themselves.

This annoys me, too.

It is beyond irritating, and one of the reasons I questioned the existence of god from a young age.

It's the epitome of arrogance and self delusion in my opinion. What's the attitude here is it that god has a purpose for me that mine of those other people could fulfill, or is it that god wanted to send a message to me by killing a bunch of other people. It may be a way to deal with survivor guilt, but I still think it's conceit.

Another "favorite" of mine is when people rave about the steel beams in the shape of a cross found in the rubble of the World Trade Center. It's not because there were millions of crisscrossed beams in the building, right?

Religion is full of shit.

"God granted us a miracle! Obviously we're 'special' in god's eyes. You, however, did not enjoy the 'miracle' so you cannot be special - so not only are you weeping, you're also INFERIOR! Haleluyah!"

A few months ago, I watched the news where a tornado hit an Oklahoma city, killing several people and the news anchor showed where a few bible pages were stuck on someone's car windshields and they made a big deal about how God exists. Well, we should fire Him because He is surely falling short on the job of protecting us. But christians were declaring God is good and this is a reminder that He is everywhere. Why would you be more special than your neighbor, did you pray more? Are you his favorite student...teacher's pet? This is insanity in it's cruelest form!

No god to really give a damn. If one existed why would he/she even bother?

"God spared you" is a meaningless platitude often uttered with the same degree of understanding as that of a myna bird that greets you with 'hello, good morning.'

It's hard to rationalise the irrational. A building collapses during an earthquake and 500 people die, a horrible death, and three weeks later a baby is found alive in the rubble and it's heralded as a miracle from God. How? 500 die and one lives! I stopped trying to square that circle a long time ago.

Yes. I feel like people use god and religion as a way to not have to take any personal responsibility. Someone dies? God's will. Someone lives? God's plan. Someone is hurt? Never question god. It's all crap.

I like you! My mum had this kind of god he had a long white beard and sat on a cloud all day with a big book on his lap, on one side was Elsie (my mum) On the other side of the ledger was 'Rest of the world' if anyone tripped fell and broke their leg - my mother would say "See old Mrs Openshaw , she was bad to me and my God gave her what for! No wonder i ma agnostic!

I agree. it is a particularly nasty manifestation of religion. Like 'There, but for the grace of God, go I', pointing to a drunk, or homeless person.

All the time! Why would God spare you and let a child die or did God not care about anyone but you?

I hate it when someone wins the Super Bowl and thanks God for giving them the strength to win. What a crock of crap! So in their belief God must really hate he other team because they lost.
I hate it when sports winners, Oscar winners, etc. play the God card!

No thats why when I learned of the Holocaust as a kid I theorized that no way a god would have let some people survive and all those others be exterminated. Any god -Jewish, Christian whatever.

Religion is full of such contradictions. Like why do the good die young, why do babies die, etc. The closed minded religious rationalize with statements like, "It's not for us to understand God's ways" or "God works in mysterious ways." In other words, don't ask tough questions, just accept what we say on blind faith.

Yeah, a woman I know had breast cancer and even though she swears that god can heal people through prayer, she went to a doctor who used nasty old science on her to get rid of the cancer. As soon as it was in remission she proclaims how good god is.
What about those poor folks who died of cance?

They're just repeating what they've been trained to say; I doubt any of them believe it's anything other than random chance.
It's probably just their religious way of expressing gratitude for surviving.

Yes as there always going to be people who survive at million to one chance because there is a million who didn't. no one ever says what a fucking asshole God is for taking the majority but saving that million to one person. now the devil apparently doesn't exist who will they all blame now?

I agree with you. Its a bad scene. Like handicapped children, why??? A tornado kills a bunch of people.....random. Really, it is all in the mind. It sounds like "imaginary friends".....maybe some people just need to believe in something else. Myself, I do believe there is a "higher intelligence" that is watching me, or at least that I'm part of or just "inside". it all comes down to why are we here? What is the purpose of life? This question has been out there since the beginning.

It is annoying. They either can't or won't do any critical thinking to see their obvious hypocrisy

Right on kido, did you ever see a jack nickelson movie called " the witches of Eastwick" jack had a great quote in the movie just about what you said,lol He said it in the church scene if you saw it you would laugh!

Yes, this is bothersome to me.

Guess they should've prayed harder then.