All of us have experienced being outmaneuvered by a younger, more favored sibling. One event in my life was when I was minding my own business, eating my noodle soup, with a glass of orange juice on the side. F-, my younger brother, feeling a bit malicious at the time, then takes my orange juice, pours it into my soup, and starts laughing. We were very young then.
I do not tell my mom, who was sitting just close by but who did not see the incident. After so many "incidents" like this, I have learned to keep my trap shut—it will always begin with me making an "accusation" that F- will vehemently deny, progressing to my strong insistence to prove that the incident happened and that F- was responsible, with F- going on to say that maybe I did that to myself, seeing as there was no sense to him doing it, finally my Mom (or Dad) refusing to see the "evidence" and getting mad.
In the end, I just throw the soup away when Mom isn't looking and try to find some other food elsewhere. Meanwhile, F- has his fun and I have my peace.
When I was in the Philippines, a nation of double standards when it came to religious faith and practice, I must say I was still shielded from the gross disbelief of people. While atheists and agnostics were the faceless enemy, I frequently waged war on them in forums and on the writing of article. I was sure of the rightness of my cause and confident that, once everyone can see things with an unbiased eye, people will see that, truly, there is a God, that God revealed himself ultimately in Jesus, and that He gave His life to save many.
Moving to Australia was a shock. I already knew that Australia was an atheist nation and I had my doubts about living there. From my last few posts, you can see that my reaction to Australia was overwhelmingly positive. But it was still a shock to suddenly be confronted with the divide between atheism and Christianity here.
