Give 'em Hell

Talib Kweli is coming to Edmonton next month. I've respected his lyricism from the first time I heard "Never Been in Love" in my car on the way home from work one summer day in 2006.

But my favourite from him at the moment is entitled "Give 'em Hell". It's exactly how I'm feeling today. This week, I have had someone (who was probably a former friend of mine) try to ruin my reputation and make me lose my job. I've had to go to court over a ridiculous matter of pettiness regarding my beautiful daughter. I've had to cram these things, along with preparations for next week's business trip, in between midterms. I'm exhausted.

I have to wonder, after I have faced two people who hide behind their religion as an excuse for their abuse, how God can allow His name to be taken so blasphemously? I know enough to separate God himself from the unsavory people who claim to be like him. But why would He let such gross misrepresentation happen all the time? I'm not dumb enough to think that I'm the only one these people try to victimize. Neither am I dumb enough to think that I'm the only one who has a problem with it. So, why does God let people portray Him as petty, coercive, miscommunicative, vindictive?

I'm one of those hard-headed people who chooses to believe that God exists. I don't have a lot of answers about what He's like, and I certainly don't have any desire to push that belief on anyone else. This fact about me makes it difficult for me to reconcile with people like those I've had to deal with this week. I can't just dismiss them as jerks, and their god as imagination. So, what can I do?