Hey Nostradamus!

My notes for the beginning few pages are missing.. so here are things then in no particular order that Douglas Coupland made me think of:

Pg.14 *

. "Dear God,
I'll stop believing in you unless you tell me what possible good could have
come from the bloodshed. I can't see any meaning or evidence of divine logic."

Why do people decide for themselves that every action they perform is important to God?
As if God has some great divine plan that accounts for my combing my hair today a certain
way and whether or not I keep my job and if my wife was murdered.

George Carlin brought up an interesting point by observing that in that sort of belief system
prayer is useless. If all things are pre-planned and set then what good is prayer? And, what
good is getting upset at God going to be if it is according to His plan?

Of course the very acceptance of this belief is the source of the problem. Without getting
into a philosophical discussion about where free-will resides or how much of it we have think
about the issue of choice. ASSUME the whole purpose of man is to get saved or
get to heaven. If God chooses ahead of time who goes there and who goes to hell
then he is not just, he is not forgiving, he is not merciful. He has decided already who will
think a certain way and who will not. A logical framework would be to ensure people are
brought to a choice. Would you really want a potion that just makes someone love you
because that is how you set it up? Or would you like having that girl or guy fall in love with
you for all that is you! Why wouldn't God want the same?