Bitter?

Before I start in, let me make clear that I have no problem with people who pray for things. I don't think that they're stupid or deluded, I just don't agree with them that it's effective. I don't particularly want people praying for me, and if they do, I don't want to hear about it, especially if they're praying for me to "see the light" or similar. Usually when I see people ask for prayer for themselves or others I keep my mouth shut and don't comment, it's not my place to try & dissuade them and the timing would usually be terrible! That all being said, it's been my observation that people who pray to get healed fail to get healed as often as they do get healed. When someone recovers, then "praise God!", but when they fail to recover it's either ignored or chalked up to something along the lines of God's "mysterious ways", or ultimate plan. But that's all hypothetical, let's move on to a specific example, as illustrated by the Facebook thread to the left.

Granted, I knew that I was starting trouble with my comment, but the person who was healing in this instance, unless he has changed greatly in the last year and a half, is not religious and was probably not praising God for the fact that his injury was healing. (The person making the initial comment is not the person who was injured). So I thought that I was on safe ground making a comment. Notice that, although one might easily infer that I was disagreeing with or contradicting the God praiser, my actual words merely added a group who merited some praise. (Not to mention the fact that our bodies naturally heal from minor injuries with or without prayer) I was then asked who "gave" the medical professionals their expertise. Even if one believes that there is power in prayer, surely my answer was logical, rational and fact-based...with no name-calling! But it's the response to that which really got my attention:

"Tom you seem bitter"

Bitter? I received no response to a request for an explanation of this characterization, other than that Jesus could heal "that". Now there might be areas where a case might be made for some bitterness in my life, likely harbor some toward my first wife for various reasons, and haven't quite put aside my attitude toward my former employer, but bitter...towards...what? Who? This seems to be a go-to response from some theists toward atheists, agnostics, skeptics and followers of other religions. There's an accusation that we're bitter towards God, or mad at God, or we hate God. I can't speak for a single person other than myself, but I arrived at my current worldview not because I was mad at any god or gods, but simply because it just didn't make sense to me any longer. If there is such a thing as "God", I don't see any evidence that he, she or it operates the way people think. 

So folks, pray all that you want, but not everyone else does, and it's not because we're bitter.