In this article I mentioned that my seven year old daughter was recommended by her first grade teacher to attend a magnet school for gifted children. When I took her to get tested, I found myself among the parents of 76 other applicants as we were all told that only 10 spots were open. Of course I think my daughter is smart and creative, and I think her grades and her status as top reader in the class justify that independent of mere parental bias. But is she so advanced that she can beat those odds?

Apparently, yes. She made it. Next year, as a second grader, she'll be attending a local public but well funded magnet school for gifted children with a focus on math and science, some independent interest based study, in a school uniform (unusual for public schools in this area).

God must have had a hand in this. And of course God had a hand in rejecting the 66 kids who didn't make the cut.

Does God micro-manage the universe, or doesn't he? People pray for teams to win and when they do win, you can always hear the star thanking God, as if God had a personal stake in the game.

If God did, then what does this say about the performance of the players? And, why would he pick one side over the other? What about boxing or tennis? Does God favor one over the other? Maybe God picks the person who just really perseveres, the guy that hits the gym an hour earlier everyday, the guy that just wants to win with every fiber of his being.

Such an athlete is certainly admirable, and in fact, seems to not really need God at all. What if both are go-getter super-sportspeople? What if we imagine that Serena and Venus are both mentally equal insofar as determination and motivation, both have identical training regiments and both ask God to help. How does God pick? Does God pick? If God doesn't pick, is it right to thank him after a win?

Maybe God picks the better person, the less sinful person. In that case, shouldn't we expect that less competent athletes who are better people otherwise would win more? As far as I know, there are no demonstrable stats that back this idea up.

But more importantly, if God does determine the winner and loser, wouldn't it be right, fair and just to blame God for the loss, instead of just thanking him for the win? Katrina survivors thanked God for their lives, but how many blamed God for the destruction of their city, or the lives that were lost?

I didn't ask for God's help with my daughters application. After all, seeing no evidence for the existence of any gods, I'm an atheist. But given my area, I know that some of those other parents surely did pray for help. And what about the ones who lost?

Winning and losing can always be attributed to non-God events. It almost seems like God isn't required at all, that a combination of hard work and luck suffice. But let's pretend that a mother prayed for her kid to get into the program, and her prayers were answered.

God for his own reasons, took pity or at least some personal interest and helped that girl; Sally we'll call her. There are only so many openings and so many applicants. God, by preferring Sally, shafted, let's say, Lucy. Lucy didn't make it. Lucy lost. Lucy's mom perhaps ought to blame God for her loss if she is a believer.

That seems like a pretty logical conclusion. But wait! God works in mysterious ways, we are told. What if God somehow rigged the numbers? Don't ask me how - the numbers are clear, 10 openings with 76 applicants, but this is GOD! The master of space and time, king of the cosmos! He could have preferred Sally, without purposely causing Lucy's loss, and we lowly humans are merely unable to detect this tampering.

Maybe when a poor farmer prays for rain in a drought-ridden area, he gets his miracle rain in addition to the water available, against the current weather patterns, against the laws of nature, and not at the expense of another farmer in equal straights somewhere else. God just made it all work out, be balanced the books and adjusted for the laws of conservation of matter and energy. In that case, winners from any venue are right to thank God, while losers are wrong to blame him.

I fully concede that an all-powerful being would be able to pull off such a feat. Therefore, Lucy and her mom would be wrong to blame God for their loss, and Sally right to thank God for her win.

Of course, a prayer-answering God who tampers and micromanages to that degree, with that amount of power, with the ability to intervene in ways that totally confound us, could also make a universe which allowed complete freewill without any evil at all...

No evil dictators, no earthquakes.

My only conclusion is that God, as described, must be immoral (or doesn't exist).