Hm. Let me add to the currently three pages of this notion.

I, as a believer in God, have found out recently how "cruel" God can be. I'd prefer to view it as His sense of humor. Man, can He be funny! Okay, that was sarcasm. There's really nothing funny about it.

Or is there? Isn't it all about our point of views? Isn't it all how we choose to perceive things? It's not like we don't have a decision in this. We do.

It's no like we don't have a decision to feel the way we feel, because we do. It doesn't mean that life doesn't get overwhelming. I'm standing there next to you. Not a single damn one of us who are posting under "depression" because we're happy with where we sit or stand or walk or whatever figure of speech you want to use. Moral of this paragraph: We are not here because we're not happy and we need answers.

I don't expect this post to change minds or lives. It's very clear that most people have made up their minds here, which is what adds to the depression. We figure, "Well, hell. There's no way out and I don't have a choice. And who's to blame for that? 'F' God! He's to blame for this! I can't believe he allowed this to happen!!"

Guess what, folks? That's the joy of freedom of choice, something that the Lord has granted us. And that's not just the Christian God, just so you know. And most of us (including myself) didn't end up where we are because we were making the best of decisions. God allowed me the choice. And I did.

I have always thought of God's freedom like one of those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. For those of you who recall what those are, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're too young to know, or maybe too old, then let me tell you what it is.

This book would have a series of choices for you to pick up and take all centered around a certain adventure in life. If you wanted route A, you would flip to page 16. If you wanted route B, you would flip to page 87. What happened was that you chose your own adventure, your own path. You would go through this "adventure" in this novel and you would have a series of decisions. Some of these decisions lead to death and others love, treasure, or whatever the novel was centered around. My favorite was an Indiana Jones type of story.

So, sometimes with the joy of freedom of choice, we end up in the wrong place. It's not always our fault. It's not always the place we saw ourselves going. And sometimes, like the novel, you recognize that you didn't make the right choice and you can turn to pay 87 instead of 16 because we can back up.

Like movies, they had multiple endings.

And here I am typing too much and probably losing people on the topic of discussion: "God is Cruel."

It's all about perception and how we make our journey. I say this, as like the poster, a complete "hypocrite." We have different routes, we can choose our own adventure. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. But like in the novels I don't believe that God doesn't know what is already written. No matter what we choose, he already knows what's ahead, but that doesn't mean it's the right choice, but God is never caught off guard. He is the writer of our adventure, and we choose which route we go, with multiple answers.

God is never caught off guard. He doesn't go, "Oh, whoops! I didn't mean for that to happen!" At least, my God doesn't. That's why I don't believe in coincidences. God knows I'm flipping to page 87 before I do.

So, you know what? God may be cruel. I'm not here to say He's not. I'm here to say that through my dying faith these are the threads I hold on to. That we're not perfect, and I don't think that God expects us to always trust and endear.

But here's what the true question really is: If you're an atheist and God is so f'n cruel, then why choose to question that, to supposedly to you, He doesn't exist? If He doesn't exist, then how is he cruel?

My advice, for what it's worth: You obviously hold onto some type of faith and you need it. You crave it. You're just angry right now it seems, and that's okay. But I would tell you to find someone who helps you with the faith that you have, no matter how little or big that it is.

You wouldn't be calling God cruel if you didn't believe that He existed.

All my best wishes to all out there.