Allright people! Amen...everything here is everything I wanted to hear. Okay, my turn.
In my opinion, people that say they don't believe in God somehow still fear God. People use any excuse not to believe...they don't look at the larger picture. I've heard 9/11 a few times here, I knew that one would come up. I've also heard "if such a powerful being exists...how can bad things happen?" I know I'm going to sound cold to some, to tell you the truth..I have a hard time explaining it for some reason...I know how it feels, but can't explain it. I'll give it a shot.

9/11...I know many are angry at God for this. I know many have turned on him if they hadn't already. "How can you let this happen God?? Why?!?" Have you ever heard that there is a reason for everything? Every action creates a reaction. Thousands of people died, but look what it did for us. There are thousands of people out there that DID open their eyes and turn to God. There are thousands and millions of people that came together and freely gave their love and support to eachother. I saw many ordinary people opening themselves to others, where we were so closed off before. We're so afraid to show emotions of love and caring. Why? Because something in our heads stops us in everyday life, and that something is a voice telling us that strangers will think you're wierd or nuts or something, or that you'll drive people away rather than create friends and people that love you. It makes me cry when someone is free enough to hug a friend, or someone of the same sex even though they aren't gay. You saw that on 9/11 and in the many weeks after. Perhaps a few were sacrificed to save millions? That's something hard for a person directly affected by 9/11 because we as humans are selfish. I'm not saying that to be chastising or to blame, I'm saying that as a fact. We are. Even if we believe a person is going to go to heaven or be in a better place, do we still hurt when they're gone? Why? Because we miss them. We want them here with us, even though the world is filled with such pain and hardship, we would rather have them here in it with us. You can deny it if you want, but in general that's what it is. People get angry when someone young dies, or when there's an accident and someone is taken away from them. They are ignoring the fact that there IS a God and that the people that are gone are not here suffering with the rest of us anymore. Plus they miss that person, and it hurts, and they think they aren't going to see them ever again because they are scared or forget that they WILL see them again on the other side when it is THEIR time.
The terrorists God...is a pagan God. Don't forget that a God can be evil. There is an evil presence here in this world and there is a constant battle for our souls. The evil took those people away from us on 9/11, the evil thought that if they did that everyone would end up hating God for not saving them from the horrific act. And God did save the ones that were needed here still. But not all of us turned on God, it strengthened many. And this is the battle that ensues every day between good and evil. Evil wants to take over this world and make it its kingdom, and us its slaves.
It says in the bible that we are children. And if you really take a good look at it, we ARE children until we die. Children tend to be selfish until they grow to understand sharing and thoughtfulness. You recognize this if you ever watch a child growing up. There are very few people, if any, that totally don't think about themselves still. We grow into adults, but we are still selfish in many ways. We're quick to turn on God, quick to disown him if something doesn't go our way...unless we ARE listening to him.
People think God turns on us, when in fact it is US turning on HIM. He can't help us if we turn our back on him and won't listen. Then we're just fighting our way through life alone and ignoring the one person who will give us direction and comfort and strength. Have you ever felt lost? Have you ever felt like you didn't know what just happened or what was going on? Tell me, were you listening to God or ignoring him? Had it been days or weeks or months since you even thought about him?
People say they don't understand why he lets things happen. Well, in all actuality, it doesn't say anywhere that we were SUPPOSED to understand anything. HE understands it, He knows what it is for when something happens...we don't.
When people hurt, they don't want to think about these things. We want to wallow in our misery and pain, rather then makes sense of it. Because we're selfish. Or maybe because we NEED to wallow in it for one reason or another. Only He knows.

Chris, right on about religion being the glue that creates a bond and strengthens the family. I agree. But unfortunately there are people out there who just don't want to believe. It seems easier to them if they don't . It seems weak to them if they do believe. And all I have to say to them is, keep telling yourself that and I hope someday you'll realize the truth. Like a lyric in my brother's song, "you can run, but you can't hide. You can't escape, someone who sees you inside. He knows your name. He knows what's on your mind, and that won't change. Just because you closed your eyes...Ever notice how every time you've fallen you start thinking of him? Ever notice how it always seems to come back to Him again?"

I don't know why, but I felt the need to start this. I hope it helps someone out there (even if you do think I'm crazy)

Peace and God bless.