Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 18:02 (4728 days ago) @ dhw

DHW

e.g. his slaughter of the innocents (I don’t just mean in biblical stories) – are simply part of his great plan, and the victims, together with those who are left grieving, will eventually be compensated because he will give them a better life.

I would like to know more about what other acts outside of biblical stories you are referring to, out of curiosity.

In regards to the other, yes, my faith that there is a God is absolute, but my interpretation of his personality is not based on my faith that he exists, nor is it in fact based on the biblical accounts nor those of any other book. I could go into a detailed list of personal experiences that I have had, and almost did do so in one post, but I digressed in favor of sparing you and the others here of some rather gruesome and gory details. My belief that he is loving and kind, and my belief that mankind is just as surely doomed to failure is based on my experience, not on my faith.

Faith is one of those funny things. I don't use my faith to bring myself comforting, and if anything, it is a irritating briar caught in the seat of my pants because I can make no claim to have lived a good life, and can only hope that my intent is judged as kindly as some of my actions are harshly. In the end, the best that I can hope for is to break just over par and hope that God is as loving and generous as I believe so that he might forgive the balance of my debt.

Whether you are a man of science, a man of faith, or somewhere between the two, at some point you have to have faith in something. I don't place my faith in God as a way of hedging my bets, but when compared to the folly of man....

******

Fun is a wonderful word, and a wonderful feeling. The fact that friends can have fun disagreeing with each other and arguing against each other as a means of refining their own individual beliefs is a testament to the quality of people on this site.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.