If Mike Hukabee and Bryan Fischer are to be believed, secularists are culpable for the Newtown, Connecticut, tragedy. It is our insistence of adhering to the Establishment Clause that forced God from the schools, which in turn allowed today's events to unfold. If but for God's expulsion, he would have protected Sandy Hook Elementary; as Fischer notes, "God is not going to go where he is not wanted."

Their claim raises the traditional questions surrounding the God paradox: if he is omniscient and omnipotent but allowed this to happen, then he is also malevolent and, quite frankly, sadistic... and that is a God of whom I want no part.

But what Hukabee, Fischer and those who accept their premise ignore is the individual aspect of their claims. Even though it is a priori a ridiculous argument, let us assume that indeed, secularists are responsible for collectively removing God from school, and it is that fact that permitted this massacre. Can Hukabee, Fischer, et al. guarantee that these families did not personally and individually pray to the same God they are now exonerating from blame? Why did God have to be worshipped in a particular place at a particular time in order for his protection to be activated, as it were? Is private prayer (from billions around the world) not enough? Is there some footnoted fine print that I missed in Bible school?

I also find it hypocritical that immediate blame-shifting is spewing from the mouths of alleged personal responsibility proponents, one of whom belongs to a network that, in the wake of NFL's Belcher tragedy, spoke out about a waiting period for criticism and punditry in times like these... with which I happen to somewhat agree. Does this also make my hypocritical? To an extent, but at least I recognize and admit this in the face of the alternative, letting their shameful political nonsense go unrebuked.

This is in no way a criticism of Christianity... I recognize that the radical fringe of any group does not and should not be taken as stereotypical, or even considered part of the majority. There are plenty of Christians who reject their premise for the nonsense it is, which is the main goal here. If God was indeed so displeased about being removed from school that this is his punishment, then I would suggest that Hukabee and Fischer critically examine why they espouse such a vengeful and unforgiving deity.

To that end, if there is a heaven, these victims most definitely reside there now. That being the case, I would like Hukabee and Fischer to really ask themselves if they feel, under their scenario, that God would be able to look the children in the eye and say, when asked why he let this happen, that it was because some people didn't allow them to pray in school... the most patently pathetic excuse I would have ever heard. Yet this is their principal point.

While they turn this into just another opportunity to fight for Christian theocracy, let us not let their partisan one-track minds deter our thoughts from the victims, their families, and all affected.