Ask the Heathen Part 33 1/3

[Emwok]

My wife's read some of the books, she thinks they're too violent.

^ That's what my mom thinks.

I watched the first movie and loved it. Haven't seen the other two though.

Dirt cake?

[Bruce_Campbell]

Instruction manual: Depends on how complex the item is. :p

Dirt cake: Never tried it.

[Chozon1]

What are your thoughts on the Lego Movie?

[Emwok]

You should try dirt cake sometime. It's pretty much just crushed Oreos and some other stuff mixed up in a big bowl.

Favorite genre of games?

[Bruce_Campbell]

That's a tough one. I play a variety of stuff. I don't really have a favorite genre anymore.

[Chozon1]

What's the proper response when you can't think of a good comeback?

[Bruce_Campbell]

What's the proper response when you can't think of a good comeback?

A good, swift kick between the legs.

[Darkkodiak]

If you knew that there was a just God out there who created the universe, loves you the way you are, and has a good plan for you, would you still want to get to know/follow Him even if you don't understand/agree with the way He does everything?

[Emwok]

Too many books?

[Chozon1]

What's the proper response when you can't think of a good comeback?

A good, swift kick between the legs.

I'm considering adopting this as part of my Viking Heritage.

Your thoughts?

[Bruce_Campbell]

If you knew that there was a just God out there who created the universe, loves you the way you are, and has a good plan for you, would you still want to get to know/follow Him even if you don't understand/agree with the way He does everything?

Is there clear evidence that that this God exists, and does s/he communicate with me clearly and concisely (i.e. not from an ancient religious text that has been translated and retranslated and cobbled together and rearranged so many times and contradicts itself again and again)? When you say s/he loves me as I am, why would s/he want to change me? And when you say things that I disagree with, do you mean condoning and or commanding slavery or slaughtering children, or sitting by and doing nothing while innocent children are being abused and neglected? I guess it all depends.

For the record, I don't believe that a deity like that exists. I was a Christian for about 25 years though, so I used to believe it.

Too many books?

On my backlog? Totes magotes.

And yes, Chozon, you should save up some bail money and randomly assault people.

[Emwok]

Accidentally shouting in the wrong direction in Skyrim?

[Chozon1]

It's not really "assault" if it's a tradition. I think I can get away from that in court.

Conversations about people you don't know are in the next room?

[Darkkodiak]

If you knew that there was a just God out there who created the universe, loves you the way you are, and has a good plan for you, would you still want to get to know/follow Him even if you don't understand/agree with the way He does everything?

Is there clear evidence that that this God exists, and does s/he communicate with me clearly and concisely (i.e. not from an ancient religious text that has been translated and retranslated and cobbled together and rearranged so many times and contradicts itself again and again)? When you say s/he loves me as I am, why would s/he want to change me? And when you say things that I disagree with, do you mean condoning and or commanding slavery or slaughtering children, or sitting by and doing nothing while innocent children are being abused and neglected? I guess it all depends.

For the record, I don't believe that a deity like that exists. I was a Christian for about 25 years though, so I used to believe it.

I'm sorry if it comes across that I am trying to start some kind of debate, because I'm not. I'm trying to format the question in a yes or no answer format. For the purpose of refocusing the question, I would define the details as below:

Is there clear evidence that that this God exists,

If you knew = You fully believe that you have clear evidence that God exists

does s/he communicate with me clearly and concisely (i.e. not from an ancient religious text that has been translated and retranslated and cobbled together and rearranged so many times and contradicts itself again and again)?

Not necessarily, in this scenario you don't know if God is communicating with you or not or which methods would be used. You are at the point to where you need to decide if you want to begin communications or not.

When you say s/he loves me as I am, why would s/he want to change me?

In this scenario, you do not have any information that would suggest that God wants to change you, and you don't know why God would want to change you. All you know is that God loves you and cares about you.

And when you say things that I disagree with, do you mean condoning and or commanding slavery or slaughtering children, or sitting by and doing nothing while innocent children are being abused and neglected?

In this scenario, you know that God exists and loves you (and all others). There is however, a variety of scenarios in which you do not understand, including but not limited to: the present human slavery industry, families getting beheaded in the middle east, child soldier armies, wars, drug/alcohol addictions, physical disabilities, mental disorders, natural disasters, and a host of other things that are generally socially classified as "bad things". You do not understand why these things are in the world, and you don't know if God is doing anything about it or not, but you cannot escape from this belief that God exists and loves you (and others) despite the bad things also existing. You disagree with God in the sense that you do not see action being taken in the way that you would take action in response to "bad things".

I guess it all depends.

The heart of the question comes down to this: Is a God that we disagree with worth getting to know, if we know that He exists, created everything and loves us? So after answering your questions and clearing up the parameters of the original question, would you want to get to know God in these circumstances?

[Bruce_Campbell]

That question deserves a longer reply than I can give here. (I'm on my phone at a hospital with my wife.) For now I'll just say that I can't give it a simple yes or no answer.