And Jesus Said "Do Ya Feel Lucky?"

I know I'm harping on religion lately, but it's something I've been struggling with for a little while. I'm told it's common - anyone who's had faith for a long time goes through times when they doubt, question, search, whatever. My particular permutation is, basically, to get pissed off at other Christians who aren't struggling.

But, seriously, Atheist, Agnostic, or anyone of any faith promoting peace would do well to get pissed off at this douche bag. From CNN:

"Jeanne Assam, the volunteer security officer and congregant who shot a gunman Sunday at New Life Church in Colorado, said she felt weak as she approached him because she had been fasting. "I prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me," she said. "My hands weren't even shaking. I knew what I had to do.""

Forget the adrenaline. Forget the fact that you're posed with a terrible situation. Forget needing to kill someone to protect your family and friends. Forget the setting and the circumstance.

God told you it was a good idea to kill a guy? Seriously? OK. If that's how you want to play it.

There are very few phrases, words or actions that can shut down a legitimate conversation faster than "God Told Me To." I don't care what God told you to do, even if it seems completely rational or even inspired, when God told you to do it, it suddenly becomes very comfortable for me to label you a cook. A walnut. A couple rounds short of a clip. Someone who uses God as a crutch. I could go on.

Two more major gripes:

1) Anyone who tells the NATIONAL FREAKING MEDIA that she's fasting out of pious love for God, in the words of the Bible, "have received their reward." They also deserve to be thrown against a brick wall six or seven times.

2) If the holy spirit, the ghost with the most, had the where with all to take this woman's hand (weak from fasting) to shoot the guy who wanted to harm the congregation, why didn't the ghost just stop the shooter? "God works in mysterious ways?" Shut the f*** up.

I guess what makes me sad is how so many awful things happen in this world without explanation without the benefit of God's direct intervention. Genocides, gang shootings, random acts of violence, despots, serial killers, on and on and on. If only all these things happened in a church, God would intervene directly, huh? The implication is this woman is better than everyone else because God made her shoot this guy, even if it was heroic. All those victims are getting what they deserve in the eyes of God, following this logic.

Onward Christian Soldiers.