Keeping Dr. Sultan Alive

There's a terribly courageous woman of Syrian extraction living in Southern California; her life is in danger. Think good thoughts.

One Reason I'm Not a Faith Weblogger

I don't have a good explanation for Michele:

So how do people of faith continue to proclaim the virtues of god? How do you exist every day saying god is just and god is good? How can you believe in god when things like this happen? Why do people constantly say things like "God saved my little one from dying in that accident" or "God told me to feed the homeless" or "God led me to not get on that plane today, he saved me from being in that crash" when it can't possibly be? Because if God is going to save one little girl from dying, why can't he save the rest? And I know people have to die, that's the way of the world, but what kind of god would let a mother sit on the side of the road at 2am after her sister's wedding, cradling the remains of her little girl in her arms while the child's killer lives to tell the tale? Don't even tell me that god gives you what you can handle. Because that makes it sound like a gift and losing a child is certainly not a gift, nor should it be seen as a test of faith or a testament to god's mysterious ways. It's just proof on top of more proof for me that the world is so god damn random and there is no great being looking out for us, hearing our prayers, seeing to miracles, or helping us help ourselves. There is just randomness. No fate, no destiny, no pre-written paths or intervention from above. Just randomness.

That's no comfort to the mother who just lost her daughter, and it's no answer to a person who might be crying out for a reason to believe.

"Life is Random"

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]

A PC President

I think I know why President Bush said "Happy Holidays" twice at today's press conference but didn't say "Merry Christmas" once. Some of his best friends are Jewish.

Not saying "Merry Christmas" disappointed me, but it shows Bush is his own man no matter what the Bush bashers think.

UPDATE: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did the opposite of the President by calling the state Christmas tree exactly what it is.

UPDATE II: As to my "best friends" quip I was almost correct:

Some leaders of Jewish organizations were miffed that the White House chose to meet with a hand-picked group of rabbis —and predominantly Orthodox ones at that —rather than appointed heads of leading Jewish groups, as is usually the custom.