VolSquatch

I want to believe this isn't real, but I'm sure it is.

We are probably not even a decade away from people trying genital mutilation surgeries on babies.

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What’s the point of giving us free will if the goal is to get to heaven?

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In that case why not just start us out in heaven to begin with?

It isn't a coincidence that a "good" life lived also corresponds with things that advance humanity as a species/civilization. The Bible and Old Testament biblical law is filled with things that aren't just good for the individual, but for the community as a whole to survive and thrive. A small village can be entirely destroyed because one guy decides he likes another guy's wife. Nowadays the individual behavior doesn't have near as much impact on the "group" as a whole, so this point isn't nearly as noticeable or impactful now so we focus on the individual.

Given all that, my thought/theory is that God is largely if not entirely hands off, which requires free will. But he wants humanity, since it is in his image, to thrive. So the Bible ultimately gives us the tools for that. The New Testament and Jesus' sacrifice ultimately foresaw the point where societies became so large that we needed to focus on the individual, so there you have the focus on the afterlife we have. Judaism on the other hand very much still has the communal aspect and that seemingly won't ever go away, so you are able to focus more on the communal aspect.

To answer the other questions and kind of TLDR this, essentially God is more concerned with how we act on earth and heaven is the reward. So Christians and humans generally focus on the reward whereas God is focused on the process in getting it.

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Why would anyone worship a God that played such games with our lives?

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I see it as more of a system than a game, but I get that perspective. There isn't a good answer for the cancer question, thats just mine

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Because God set us up to fail. Then he blames us for it and prescribes the direst consequences for something he assured would happen. If a parent did that they'd be arrested for child abuse.

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I used to really struggle with these types of issues. The "why does he let kids get cancer" stuff. It is all very valid and I 100% get why I would keep people away from God or religion.

I actually think its more comforting that God is just observing and not interfering all that much (if at all) with the world. If you interfere some you're creating winners and losers..."Why did you save the cancer kid but let my kid get hit by a bus?" type questions. But if the whole point is to see if you live a good life so you can get into heaven it makes more sense to let people actually make choices and be faced with organic situations. So the kid with cancer might not get cured, but the person ultimately responsible for the pollution or whatever else it was that gave him cancer in the first place has to attone for it eventually. That way you still get the "character development" and also there is a semblance of justice as well.

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Not suprised at all on this, I think most of the people who have followed this war saw this coming.

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I was told in this very thread in the past couple of weeks that this was impossible due to international law.

Some people haven't figured out yet that international law only applies when the people who stand to benefit from it AND can actually enforce it CHOOSE to enforce it.

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LSU basketball GOATs:

Shaq
Pistol Pete
Bob Pettit

Tennessee basketball GOATs:

Bernard King
Allan Houston
Dale Ellis

LSU killing you on that one.

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Referencing the early 2000's and before, is LSU basketball just Tennessee football?

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Why would you not believe in a creator? It takes just as much faith to believe their is not a God, does it not?

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I wouldn't say atheism is the same as faith at all. Atheism's problem is that those who prescribe to it see themselves as having the logical position when both the creationist and atheistic positions are 'illogical' compared to agnosticism, but the creationist position relies on faith with concedes that there are illogical and even supernatural elements to it. Meanwhile atheism denies its logical faults with no admission of such that you get with the concept of faith.

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ts worse than contradictory is completely illogical. if god is all powerful why would he start life on earth with single celled organisms? why not just cut to the chase?

the problem with an omnipotent god is that for he/she to favor human beings on planet earth makes him/her just as unremarkable as we are. my god is much, much bigger than that

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Why would God need to do anything God does? Just like the heaven discussion a week or so ago, if they goal is to get to heaven just so we can worship God all the time, why doesn't God just make us worship him all the time from the jump? Why start some people out on a tougher path to salvation than others?

I think the idea that he took something from a single cell and made it into what humanity is today is a sign of a MUCH more thoughtful and caring God than just snapping fingers. Being a good gardener or farmer wouldn't account for anything if the plants sprouted and grew to maturity right after being planted. Imagine taking all the care and precision it would require to get humans from one cell to what we are now?

I believe the idea that we are made by something greater than us is more appealing and makes more sense than everything just being random chance and evolutionary biology.

I do believe in evolution, btw. But I think its the physical blueprint of how God made things.

would boat