allsmiles said:
:chuckle:
I appreciate how earnest you are, but at the same time I'm a little offended that you'd be so quick to vaporize who I am and what I believe. It's a bit of an insult really, Granite was the first person to point it out to me.
Sorry, but it ain't gunna happen. You haven't been where I've been, you don't know what I've seen. If ever you become an ex-christian you'll know there's no going back.
You vaporize what I believe. You said
allsmiles said:
Ah, no hope in God :cloud9:
That is aimed pretty directly at my beliefs.
I have been where you are now. I was raised catholic and as I got older I totally rejected that belief system and God along with it. Same arguments; a truly loving God would never send anybody to hell, if God was there He surly wouldn't let this {insert disaster/problem of choice here} happen! I dated and eventually married a practicing Wiccan and got into tarot card reading. I depended totally on my understanding of how the world works without any thought of God.
When we had children we both decided that we wanted our children raised in a church. While we both had no use for religion ourselves, we both appreciated the background and foundation. As we started attending a non-denominational church I started looking at what God said.
I discovered that the problem I had with God was actually a problem with religion. Most religions totally obscure the Bible with so many additional do's and don'ts that is almost impossible to find God. When I looked at what Jesus taught with out the "religion filters" I found that God and Jesus offer tremendous strength and freedom. I obey God out of love, not out of obligation. I reject organized religion (Baptists, Catholics, and Mormons, Witnesses and so on and so forth) as of being of Satan and not of God.
I try never to vaporize a person for their beliefs though I may attack those beliefs unmercifully, just ask logos_x about that. Calling you names and impuning your inelegance will only cause you to ignore anything I might say. Addressing your beliefs is as fair as you addressing my beliefs even if and when we do so vigorously.
As far as this thread goes, your answers to the little girl do not help me. I do not fully understand what God does sometimes nor why he does it. I am trying to understand that from a Christian point of view. Your response does not come from that point of view. While we would both do our best to offer comfort to her in her time of loss, I also see it as very important to help her understand that God does love her and care about her. I will not abondon my belief just because I have have come up against a question I cannot answer. I will search deeper, both in the Bible and in others who have a heart for Jesus, to find the understanding and wisdom to answer the little girls question.
Best regards to you and yours Allsmiles. Keep and open heart, it will serve you well.
