Subject:
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Re: Holy crap! (was Re: The partisian trap in California)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 28 Oct 2003 07:50:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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985 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Richard Marchetti wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal wrote:
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Ultimately evil will be destroyed. Is this a temporal issue? God allows
evil only because God respects our free will. People choose evil.
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Funny:
I want you to express your free will. If you do good, I will love you and
reward you in this life and with the attainment of heaven in the afterlife.
If you do evil, I will smite you and burn you down in this life and punish
you with eternal fire in the afterlife. But you are “free” to choose as
pleases you. Choose.
It seems to me that if you actually believe this mumbo-jumbo then that’s not
really much of a choice. Frankly, how is this different from having a gun
held to your head. Sure, you don’t have to do what I say -- but if not: Bang!
Bang!
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I’m not so sure. I think that there are plenty of people who’d rather embrace
evil than good, and they do every day.
I look at it this way: God says, “Here is the gift of life-- live it however you
choose. But life is a mystery, and sometimes hard, and if you’d like some clues
as to how to enjoy it more fully, listen to me. Or you can go it alone, but I
can tell you that your life will be more meaningful if you listen and heed my
advice.” The consequence of rejecting God’s advice is a pointless life, and the
conscious decision to separate from God is hell.
My conception of hell has been heavily influenced by C.S. Lewis’ little book,
The Great Divorce. His basic premise is that we choose to dwell in hell; it
is not God who condemns us to it.
JOHN
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