30 Days of Discontent, Part 3

Nov. 12: I hate when people badmouth God. When they don't have respect for the creator of the Universe. When they call belief in God ridiculous. Or a fairytale. Or the natural reaction of dimwitted individuals. I cannot begin to explain how angry this gets me.

I have gotten into a habit of reading HuffPo Religion articles and the comments, which are awful. An article posted on Veteran's Day spoke about how churches are reaching out to returning Veterans. The comments were horrific: The church is manipulating our returning vets. Haven't the vets been deceived enough already? Churches are always on the lookout for new prey. The key to praying is talking to yourself and believing something intelligent is listening.

I get really burned up reading these comments. I have even commented to the contrary a few times and been personally attacked, so I try not to say anything any more. I know I shouldn't even read them, they make me so mad.

And I can't really explain why I get so angry about it. I don't think I feel personally insulted, like it is my belief that is under attack. There are plenty of things that I feel strongly about that others don't have to agree with and I don't get this upset. Make fun of my clothes, my choice of music, my favorite TV shows. That may annoy me, or embarrass me. But it doesn't come close to evoking this same level of anger in me.

I guess I am just completely offended that people can talk about the God of the Universe like that. I don't know how to respond or reply to it. I do have some friends who are nonbelievers, and we have interesting and respectful discussions, which I am completely OK with. But when people openly mock God, that gets me mad.