>>>People make choices Alex. Don't blame God for the choices people make.
>>
>>That's BS. Did the little girl made a choice that day too?
>
>Of course she didn't. The individual that made the choice to harm this little girl is the responsible party.

>Are you blaming God for the choice the child didn't make or the one the man did make, or God for not making the one you think should have been made??

I'm not blaming God. Just the guy. What I'm saying is that if your God was a benevolent one he could've saved the girl.


So, what you're really saying if you chose the third option is, "If I were God I'd have done this in a different way."

Not at all. All I said is that there are many choices to explain the situation. Just asked you to pick one.


Well, glad to know you don't have a self image problem. <g> But, neither you nor I are God so that's kind of a foolish alternative. Therefore, it's choice #1 or #2 and I choose #2. I blame the man who made the decision, not the child nor God.

It is not just #1 or #2. You choose #2. That's fine. There are many other possibilities as I have shown.


>Let me ask you a question: who makes up your mind for you in any given situation?
>I'll bet that your response is that you do. If so, then who is at fault if you make what turns out to be a bad decision Alex? Do you blame your parents, society, someone else or do you take responsibility for making a bad decision?

Of course I do, and I'm responsible for it. i.e. I do not blame a supernatural being nor anything, nor I use one to explain everything either. And if I did, why would I be so presumptuous as to presupose that my God is the only one or better than everybody else's? Maybe the killer's god is some other god that told him to do it.


>Ok.. So how in the world do you want to blame God (whom you claim doesn't exist BTW!) for the results of a (very) bad decision some fellow made?

I am not blaming anybody else but the guy. Just reread my message. Nor am I claiming that he/she doesn't exist. Merely that there's no proof one way or the other. The evidence collected so far points to the nay side but we don't know. So there is no compelling reason for me to suppose there is one, and that he/she is better than everybody else's god.


>Answer: There isn't any logic in it. You're being emotional and IMO irrational because you're upset that God doesn't follow your plan for life? The man who made the bad decision is responsible for that bad decision, just as you or I would be.

What are you talking about? That sentence does not make much sense. It is perfectly rational to study the situation from many sides. I attempted to do so and I offered several possible explanations toyour question. You picked one, I picked another. That's all.


>Now.. Add conscious thought to that decision and, of course, it's elevated to a much higher level.

Why? Didn't we just add conscious thought to analyzing the issue? Maybe the killer acted irrationally or maybe he also used conscious thought andfor whatever reason did what he did.


>Our decisions (choices) impact those around us, no matter how hard we try and deceive ourselves that this is not the case. That's not suggesting either good or bad, just that they impact those around us.

Nothing new there.


>That poor little girl had another's decision forced upon her. She was violated first and foremost in this area. God will never force anyone to make a decision they do not want to. That's called respect, just as it would be if that nasty person had shown respect for the wishes of the little girl (and her parents). He didn't, which is hugely sad.

And how do you know that God will never do something like that? Get's us back to the beginning where he must have had a pretty good reason to let the girl die. Or maybe it was one of the other aforementioned choices.

>But don't think that because God is longsuffering that He is unjust, unable or unwilling to settle this matter.

And why not? Most of the killing and suffering in this world, sadly was/is done in the name of one god or another.


>There really are folks who are innocents and who have very bad things done to them by other human beings who deliberately do those bad things to them. But, it's the human beings that are choosing to do these things. IMO they are grossly misusing their ability to choose but there it is. The classic example is that jesus was sinless but he was killed. Not because He did something to deserve it but because man is evil. Don't blame mankind's evil on God; that was man's choice. Personally God didn't need to pay the penalty for all of man's bad choices but He did - on that cross - so you and I wouldn't have to receive the justice of God but could receive the mercy and grace of God.

More Bible thumping, eh? He died for my sins, right? Please explain that to the billions of non-christians that would tell you otherwise.


>Like I said, don't blame God for the choices of mankind. You and I will live and die (here and for eternity) as a direct result of the choices we make. Everyone in heaven will have wanted to go there and everyone who ends up in hell will have chosen that path of their own free will - in spite of a free pardon.

That is assuming there is a heaven and hell as you envision it. Again, most of humanity - past and present - are not christians and may not agree with your vision, but offer a different one.


>Could God have stopped the man? You bet. Why didn't He? I don't have any idea. That doesn't mean God is evil as you suggest.

Evil was just one of the possible options offered. The other ones were oblivious, uncaring, impotent, nonexistent. So you took your pick. Good. Just be aware that there are other alternative explanations as I offered.


>That just means that we are not all-knowing and that we do not have all the facts. and that we are limited and not God. Neither you nor I have that kind of capacity and to presume to have enough to blame God is, well, IMO extremly foolhardy and candidly silly on the face of it. Surely you're not suggesting that you know everything? I sure don't and I don't think you do either. If you don't how can you presume to know enough here to get so mad at God?? You know something He doesnt?

No argument there. But - again - that does not prove the existence of a supernatural being, benevolent or otherwise in any way. It is just one possible explanation.


>The physical world is such a small part of existence. What is it, 70-80 years? Compared to eternity is's a small flash of light compared to the heart of the sun.

70-80 years is not such a small part of existence, considering the sun is only 6000 years old? Isn't it? Actually, a little less than the Earth and a day or two older than mankind. Right? I mean, if we start Bible thumping then everything it says is true. Not that mumbo-jumbo these so-called 'scientists' say when they insist they can prove the earth is over 4.5 billion years old? And the universe is over 15 billion? Can you believe such nonsense?


>People get really mad all the time and blame God for something that's the result oftentimes of their own decisions! Talk about irrational..

Yeah. That is irrational. Imagine. Some people even believe in other pagan gods like Ra or even Yoda and The Force! And they cannot prove it! But they are wrong. It says so in the book!