As the unamerican kierkegaardian-anabaptist I am, I’d love to be literally kicked out from this crony institution called “christendom”. Thanks for the reminder Mr Sanitarium!

I think I would respect him more if he didn’t accuse Pres. Obama of pushing his theology or admitted that he himself is also pushing his theology.

And while I agree the Protestant Church in USA has strayed into a nationalistic religion in many ways, I am not sure that is what he is saying about Protestants. He seems to have a very narrow view of Christianity.

I don’t like Ricky S. because he is a bigot. He hates homosexuals and he believes some weird teachings that came out of no where about birth control and a woman’s role in society. I have like many of you read the bible cover to cover and have yet to find any scripture forbidding the use of birth control.

Ricky S. is the typical, “I know what is best for you” Neo Con that D.C. has spit out the last 20 years.

Of the people left in this race who are serious candidates, Mitt Romney is the best answer that this nation needs right now. I am not a “Mitt man” I voted for McCain in 2008 and I think there is a air of phoniness in Mitt, but overall out of Liberal Obama, Bigot Santorum, and Newt . .. Mitt is the only one that can give us a vision and put to action what we need done.

I like many other Republicans, which we had better candidates. Senator Marco Rubio would be welcome however, let’s be frank Chris Christie is too fat and out of shape to win a national election.

And I will just try to humbly say that I have no idea ‘why.’ And I’ve reached the point where that question in and of itself is just plain exhausting to me. It can be used as a cudgel, to beat others into submission, to force people to say the plain truth – I DON’T KNOW. WE CAN’T KNOW IT ALL. And it can also sometimes be a sort of barricade – an outlet for anger and frustration, to keep people at a distance. I’ve been there, I still struggle with it sometimes.

To you, it may sound like a major cop-out to just sigh and say, “I don’t have the answers to all your questions, or even to my own.” All I can tell you is that I am slowly learning to live with the tension, the uncertainty, the struggle. Because, as I said in my first comment here on this stream – I don’t have any answer to this other question either:

How come there is so much wonder, where did all the good come from, why is there joy?

Can you answer that one?

I know you are have a brilliant mind – that is obvious. I know you’ve done graduate work in science. I also know that you are a struggler – you keep asking the same questions in a variety of contexts at this site. And I am always glad to see you here – I admire your seeking mind. I guess I just wonder if you can allow me the grace to say, I don’t get it all. Because I surely don’t.

But I do know that I’ve known the presence of God – not all the time, sometimes in glimpses only. I do know that pat answers are terribly unsatisfying, maddening, reductionist and wrong. But I do appreciate honesty. And that’s all I’m trying to be when i comment here. So I ask you to please not assume that I know nothing about suffering – if you’d like to know what I know – I’d be glad to share that with you, in some other context than this very public, sometimes unfriendly environment. Let me know.

Really? The “god” who supposedly created tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, parasites, plague and pestilence (all of which are part of “god’s creation” and have nothing to do with the behaviors of people) doesn’t want to wipe out suffering? The all-powerful “god” who could limit suffering to a reasonable amount to — I dunno, say, help us grow as people– still allows things like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) to exist? That “god”?

Furthermore– are you insinuating that Adam and Eve are real people (you need to read upon evolutionary theory, if so) and that their mistake somehow reflects on me? Because I’m only responsible for my own actions.

Even if you do think they are real, you might recall that the innocent Eve was deceived by the Serpent into eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil…. meaning that Eve’s decision wasn’t a moral one because prior to eating the fruit, she had NO KNOWLEDGE of right and wrong. Literally. No knowledge… so why did “god” put that tree there in the first place, knowing (as he is supposedly omniscient) what would happen? That seems like a pretty stupid mistake for someone all-knowing.

“I’m sorry you may have had some bad suffering in your life. But to claim that since He can wipe it all away but chooses not to is “monstrous” seems pretty selfish. ”

I’m selfish? The “god” of the Bible is selfish! How dare he subject us to any kind of suffering whatsoever just because he needed some companions!!!! What a jerk!!!! If he was lonely, then HE should have endure that suffering ALONE, not drag us into it. I didn’t ask to be created (if indeed I was created) and I sure as hell didn’t ask for the crap that has happened to me over the years. But I did ask “god” multiple times to take it away and it fell on deaf ears. Why would he break the promises in the Bible that if I pray in earnest, he will answer? Wonderful counselor, my foot! Perhaps because– I dunno—- he doesn’t exist?

“God doesn’t fit in anyone’s box. How do you know that God doesn’t ‘limit suffering’ as you state?”

How do you know anything about “god” and his qualities? Have you ever met him? Or are you just spouting what your preacher told you? You talk as if “god” is real… well, where is the evidence for that? There is none. And as far as how I know that “god” doesn’t limit suffering– look around! Look at the worst places on Earth and tell me that the fact that death is preferable to the maltreatment people receive is even remotely acceptable. Or better yet– let’s talk about Hell. Yeah, Hell makes the problem of evil a permanent one. Does “god” limit suffering in Hell? According to some theologicans, the answer is no.

So there you go– a portrait of an evil “god”. He creates us for his own pleasure, just to subject us to terrible lives and possibly eternal torture. But I’m supposed to blame myself for that. Yeah, right.