>That's what so great about religion. It's so damn flexible. Something really >bad happens and people ask "Why God, Why?" No worries, it's God testing us..
Actually, no, most Christians do not think God is "testing" us. Bad things are not the result of God inflicting them on us, we inflict them on each other. However, we are told in the Bible that God can use our suffering for good if we let him. For instance, in losing someone that was very close to me and suffering through the pain of that, I now am better able to understand someone else's pain and help them through it. >Something really good happens or you acheive something great, it's not you, >it's God helping you and inspiring you to greatness. Well not necessarily, I think some Christians tend to attribute far too much to God's direct hand in things than is probably the case. But I do think that ultimately God gave me the gifts that help me achieve much of what I do, and can help me overcome my failings. >It's a free pass to abandon logic, reason, science, virtually >anything and replace it with faith. It's the ultimate wet noodle. Absolutely >brilliant. Sorry, but many of us that are very religious do so not from a lack of logic, but in great part because that is where our logic leads us. I actually have not been religious for most of my adult life, but the more I thought and read about it, the more I realized that everything I knew made me conclude that there had to be a God. You will in fact find many examples of great thinkers who after considerable study come to the conclusion that it makes far more sense that there is a higher power in play than that there is not. My degree and all my training is in science and my pastor was original a chemical engineer, so from a similar background. We had many great discussions on science and religion and both play a great part in our understanding of the world. Quite simply, it is not true that religious faith requires giving up logic and reason. Your logic and reason may lead you in a different direction, but lacking definitive proof you cannot say you are more right than I am. It may be true that many religious people are quite lacking in reasoning ability....but the same is certainly true for many non-religious folks as well. ;-) --- Mary Jo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:306351 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
