[Sailor Steve]

@ u crank: I can see where heartc is coming from, though I'm of two minds on the subject. God destroyed Soddom and Gamorah. Because of homosexuality? Some modern Christians will tell you so. Whether they are right or wrong is irrelevant. What is relevant to heartc's argument is that God did indeed kill all those people. Were his reasons valid? If you're a believer, how do you question God? His reasons must have been valid. If you're not a believer, then the only thing you can say is that the Holy Bible says that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the God of the Christians, wantonly killed several thousand people and doesn't have to defend himself because he's God, and believers praise him for it. He then ordered Joshua to exterminate an entire race, and the Israelites suffered punishment from Him when they didn't get the job done.

"The Lord moves in mysterious ways." Believers don't question God because God is perfect, and not to be questioned. Non-believers question whether the stories are even true, and if so how could any being behave so callously? Some ask those questions sarcastically, because they do believe it's not true. But some question honestly, and their questions deserve consideration. If answers are not possible, then why should they believe? If answers are possible, the what are they?

Me, I don't know, and that leaves me with lots of questions. The above are not among them. I'm not challenging anybody to prove anything unless they make direct claims of knowledge. The Bible is a book that may be true or may be full of stories. Believe whichever you like. I neither believe nor disbelieve.

Heartc seems to be full of anger over this question. I'm not defending his arguments because I don't feel that way. I am saying, however, that they do have some validity.