The God's Will thing is so yicky. The only person who said such a thing to me was my husband's grandmother. I understand that it is partly her way of coping, but I made myself feel better by sending her a copy of Rabbi Kushner's book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." He talks about the possibility of a God that is infinitely good but perhaps not in charge of everything that happens--the difference between random fate and God's goodness. I'm still feeling pretty neutral about the whole God thing, but I just had to do something to show her that I don't believe in a God who steals people's babies and there are other ways to think about why tragedy occurs besides the fact that God wanted it to happen. Someone else said to me that God wouldn't want anyone to suffer this--after all, he knows what it is like to have your child die.
And speaking of, I was watching coverage of the shooting in Tucson and there was a poster of the little girl who was killed and someone had written, "God Needed Another Angel" under her picture and I just about lost my shit. As if God sent a lunatic out in the world to shoot up innocent people just so he could increase an angel population? HOW is that a comforting idea?
wanting to dissuade people in her community about hurtful or offensive or insensitive notions of God; searching for a way to view God's work in the world that is loving rather than cruel