A Little Practice in Faith

This answer is for both Rrhain and Pogo. "I don't know" may not be satisfying to you, nor can I say that it is "satisfying" to me. However, it is an answer, and it can sometimes be the most accurate answer.What I know is that overall life is good enough that almost no one wishes they weren't still alive, even those who have been raped or abused as a child, although they may wish such a thing while it were happening.If the bad things were the only occurrences we see around us, then perhaps I would draw the same conclusions you do. They are not. Overall, life is a good thing, as the vast majority of the living agree, and there is enough in life in general, and in the lives of those I can watch, to make it clear to me there's a hand in control of it. You judge that there is either no hand, or it is weak or capricious. I do not, despite the suffering I see, and a lot of the sufferers are with me in that. This again is way too general a question for me to want to address here. If this were another topic, maybe, but I probably wouldn't participate in the thread if this were the question. I have lots of thoughts, and so does just about everyone else.Anyway, past history says answering such a question to you would lead to pages long responses, all demanding that I see vague points and ideas you have and agree with assertions you make. Just the thought makes me tired.

Wow, I think I figured out how to respond to you. Well, we'll see how this goes. I said and am saying, "Basically, there's a lot more evidence about life and its purposes than just that really terrible things happen to human children and children of other species."I agree that if there was nothing else going on around us than the torture of innocents, then I would have to conclude this is a horrible, malicious universe, and hopefully no one is in charge and responsible of the horror and maliciousness.However, there's a lot more going on than the torture of innocents. Things happen that provide evidence to me of purpose and intervention by a God who cares about his creation. You are focused on the torture of innocents, and it's all you are discussing. To you, it's so overwhelming, all other evidence ought to be ignored.It's not to me, and when I tell you that, you don't ask about the other evidence, you ask--as far as I can tell--why I pay attention to anything else but the torture of innocents.When I answer that there is a lot more going on around us that is good and purposeful, in my opinion, you bring up the torture of innocents again and claim that I've given you no answer.We could go around and around like that forever. I don't know why, and if he can't, then no one can. However, being of limited knowledge, and seeing the hand of God a lot in my life and the lives of others, I believe there's a God, a good God, who has the ability to control all of life. I do not know why the innocent are occasionally tortured, or why people regularly die a slow, terribly painful death of chemotherapy and cancer. Hmm. As far as I can tell, you're the only one asking. Two reasons. One, time. Two, there's no point. I suspect that the other "those of us" who might care where I'm coming from, could guess as well as I could as to why there might be a physical existence as well as an eternal spiritual one.If your point is to say, "Let's discuss why there's a physical existence so that I can show you that there is no possible reason that any god would insert a physical existence into a long term spiritual one," then that's pointless, too, because I don't think that kind of thing is knowable.I don't even spend my time thinking about such things, much less debating them. Long, pointless discussions are tiring. There is a difference between deep and long, and meticulous examinations should be saved for important subjects. Who defines important? For me, me. For you, you.

Actually, we're back to the fourth option, that none of us really know, maybe--hold your breath and be shocked here--not even you!!