Things I don't understand

I'm frustrated tonight.

I've had a lot on my mind lately. Things that bother me. Things that I just can't seem to wrap my head around. Where to begin...

I mentioned earlier that I have trouble grasping how is it that people can feel no need for God. What in their lives could be so satisfying that they don't feel the hole that can only be filled by his presence? Or is he present and they just don't know it? There are a number of people who do what is good, believe in doing right, and do not believe in God as a part of that. But then what is it that makes them believe that way? Where did they get the desire to do good? Is God secretly working in them? Did God plant the "it's just the right thing to do" seed in their hearts? If that's the case, then why doesn't he open them up to a fuller understanding, a deeper relationship with him? And who am I to question what God does and why he does it? But I'm not really wondering about God's motives here; I'm wondering about people's. So I guess the question is, if not from God, from where do nonbelievers' moral compasses come? Usually, I guess, it's "what feels right." We don't need to go into the complications of relying on one's emotions to make decisions, moral or otherwise. Any intelligent person would know that it's not a strong answer. Upbringing? I'm tired of people blaming their lives on their upbringing. Take the good from it, and learn to be different from the bad. Maybe it's easier to say that if one has had a good childhood and family. What else could it be? I'm at a loss. I always think of the stereotypical, godless, hippie "liberals" when I ponder the moral compasses of atheists. I even think back to the week-long "relationship" (if it can even be called that) I had with an atheist back in college. Of course it didn't help that he tried to use the L-word on me after a mere week, or that I questioned his very understanding of said L-word (since God is Love and he doesn't believe in God, how could be comprehend what he was saying to me?). So then is it a "live and let live" approach? But then those people aren't necessarily very good, morally speaking, so I guess I'm trying to figure out a narrow sector of the unbelieving population that does believe in "car[ing] for orphans and widows in their affliction and [...] keeping oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27). But wait; the caring for others thing is much easier than the being unworldly thing. So in reality, since it's impossible to be of God and of the world, the answer is simple. We all have a need for him, but since we are in this world, it cannot be fully filled. We can't help being stained by the world, which is our sin. There are just some people who wish they didn't have the worldliness to get in the way of oneness with God and others who like the worldliness and don't want God to get in the way of their complacency. So how good are good people if they don't have God in their lives? Well, they still can be good. Just because a Christian has God doesn't mean he isn't sinful. It also doesn't mean he's any better than the atheist next door. All this thinking and I still don't have an answer.
On to worldliness... I thought of this while watching one of those sad WWF polar bear commercials with that actor from E.R. asking me to adopt a polar bear for only a dollar a day and in exchange I get a polar bear picture and a t-shirt that shows what a great person I am. See, usually the animal activists are the same people who insist that evolution be taught in schools (yes, I'm talking about liberals--a term I don't like, but I have not a better one--), and yet they do not seem to believe in one of the main principles of Darwinism: survival of the fittest. Now, I definitely don't want to see those cute cuddly polar bears wiped off the face of the earth, but I don't see how we humans can stop the polar ice caps from melting... not to mention the fact that we probably ought to worry about out own species first. Save the baby humans! That's the other area where animal rights activists are hypocritical. They're so concerned about the tiny baby panda-rat that can't see and could possibly get squashed by its mother, but they can't even bother to call a human fetus a BABY. What a sad, sad, skewing of rights. It's difficult for me to comprehend how an animal can have more rights than a human. I'm sorry, we are not equals. Animals were given to man as companions and servants, not equals. Dogs are not children with fur. Cows are food providers. And yes, man has exploited animals, which is wrong. We must be good stewards of the world that was given to us, but we shouldn't deny that we are made in God's image, and as such, we are not of this world or equal to anything in it. It's for this same reason that vegetarians confuse me to no end. Some have valid reasons, like not liking meat, or wanting to eat healthier. But animal rights? I have four canine teeth that tell me I was made to be an omnivore and I plan on being so to the fullest extent of my abilities.
People get their priorities mixed up a lot. I guess that's what idol worship is. People can become our idols. Sports teams can become our idols. Objects, habits, hobbies can become our idols. Anything that takes an inordinate amount of our attention away from the things that should truly matter the most (faith, children, spouse, family, friends) becomes an idol. And idols are not good things. Not when they take the place of the One we should be adoring and worshipping. The one that I really don't get are sports teams. How can a sports team take precedence over one's family? The world will not end if sports are no longer played. Or if a certain team disbands. Or if a school loses its football program. But boy how my world would end if I lost my husband, or my daughter, or more importantly, my faith. How can anything be more important? How do people let those false idols take over their lives? I find it so... disconcerting. My daughter is my world. My husband is my world. Maybe I do idolize them a little, but through them, I see God. While nothing can take their place, they definitely do not take his place. In them, I see God. They are reflections of his love, and they help bring me closer to him. And isn't that what a family is supposed to do? Help each other, run together, to get to God.
I don't know. That's the way I see it. But maybe I know nothing.