My last entry detailed some of the terrible abuse children have suffered at the hands of the Jesuits.

As outrageous as such abuse may seem, it’s important for theists to remember that it fades to insignificance when compared to the abuse children have suffered for many thousands of years at the hands of whatever almighty gOd they believe exists.

Here’s a recent heart-breaking example:

—– Family Mourning Loss Of “Gift From God’ After Sudden Storm Blew Their Truck Off I-25 (Clara Garcia/The News-Bulletin; May 13)

LOS LUNAS, New Mexico: Marcos Lopez Walker loved to sing and dance, he loved playing soccer and he loved his family. On Saturday, May 2, the 4-year-old little boy lost his life in a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 25 south of Isleta.

As his family continues to mourn his death, they’re also celebrating his life. They say he was a gift from God who will always and forever be in their memories as well as in their hearts.

Marcos and his parents, Susan Lopez and Robert Walker, and his siblings, 12-year-old Annalyssa and 7-year-old Nicholas, were driving home to Los Lunas from Albuquerque when it began to rain. The entire family, including Marcos, had been singing “Paper Angels” by Jimmy Wayne moments before the crash happened.

“We were passing the second exit in Isleta when we noticed a white truck fly by us,” said Robert, who was driving. “I remember turning around to make sure all the kids had their seatbelts on, and they did. I slowed down to about 60 to 65 miles per hour.”

A few miles down the interstate, the sun came out – it was so bright that Robert remembers having to put on his sunglasses. Within minutes, Robert and Susan noticed a dark black cloud forming in front of them.

“It looked very scary – like it was following us,” Susan said of the weather. “We saw a big rainbow and told the kids to look.”

“I turned around and Marcos was asleep,” Robert remembered.

Without warning, as the family drove through the weather, they say a large gust of wind pushed their Dodge full-size pickup truck into the left hand lane and into the median where it rolled several times. Robert suffered a concussion, while Susan, Annalyssa and Nicholas received minor bruises and cuts.

But Marcos’ injuries were too severe. He had somehow slipped out of his car seat and was ejected from the truck, Robert said. He died on the scene.

“He was like a little man,” his mother Susan said, describing her son, whom the family referred to as Marcitos. “He would always tell me that he wasn’t a baby anymore, that he was a little man. He loved to sing — he loved country, especially Blake Shelton. He sang all the time, every song he heard.”

Marcos was like any other typical 4-year-old boy, always going and always with a smile on his face – especially when looking at a pretty little girl, his father said.

“If you had a bad day, he’d come up to you and give you a hug and a kiss and tell you it’s going to get better,” Robert said of his youngest son. “I would ask him, ‘How do you know?’ and he’d tell me, ‘Because God told me.’”

As Marcos’ parents try to deal with their son’s death, they’re also trying to help their two other children through their own grieving process. Marcos and his older brother Nicholas were the best of friends – always together and always playing.

Even though Marcos was eight years younger than his sister, he was her protector, Robert said. He would defend her against anyone – no matter how much bigger or older they were.

“One time, there was this big boy teasing his sister and (Marcos) came out and told him ‘Hey, you want a piece of me?’ to the boy,” Robert said. “He loved his sister so much.”

Not only was Marcos a rambunctious little boy, but he also had a wonderful sense of humor, Susan said. He loved to watch George Lopez, and it wasn’t uncommon for Marcos to imitate the comedian.

“He wanted to grow up to be a bounty hunter just like his dad,” Robert said. “I don’t have the words to symbolize how much I miss my son. This has taught me not to take your kids for granted, to cherish every moment with them.”

“It’s hard,” Susan said as tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do with myself. He was the most precious thing in the world.”

The family would like to thank everyone who offered their condolences following Marcos’ death, including the different law enforcement agencies that escorted the family during the funeral. Robert said he’d like everyone, in memory of his son, to turn on his or her headlights on Saturday – two weeks after his passing.

“He was a gift from God,” Robert said. “He was loving and he was sweet, and we loved him so much.”

This is a very hard story for me to read.

I take no joy in sharing it.

Indeed, if I had the power, I would erase from history the wind gust that extinguished Marcos Walker’s life and he would still be alive today.

Why am I – an atheist – so much more merciful and compassionate than Jesus?

Why do Christians like Robert and Susan Walker continue to worship a gOd who actively kills little boys? (Perhaps you’re a Christian who thinks that your gOd would *never* kill a child. If so, you might want to check out these Bible passages: Amos 3:6; Genesis 7:21-23; Genesis 19:24; Exodus 12:29; Leviticus 26:22; Numbers 31:1-17; Deuteronomy 3:3; and 2 Kings 2:23-24. If you happen to be a so-called Pro-Life Christian, you might also want to ponder the fact that some 66% of all fertilized human ova fail to implant in the uterine wall and are lost forever.)

Why would anyone worship an allegedly all-powerful gOd who passively stands back and does nothing while the natural and/or Satanic forces that he allegedly created kill children? (Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents in Matthew 2:16 is one good example of the Christian gOd’s profoundly cruel passivity. Many more recent and much better documented examples can be found in the stories I’ve shared of theist parents who have killed their children in the name of gOd while gOd did nothing to stop them.)

If Christians simply *must* worship someone or something, why don’t they worship those atheists and humanists who have never killed anybody and wouldn’t just stand by and watch others suffer and die if they could help them?

I’ve asked these kinds of questions before (perhaps most recently here).

I have yet to get any good answers.

If you think you have one, I hope you’ll share it with me now.