Gregor:
Please don't misunderstand, if your belief in anything has helped you to escape a life you describe as "squalid" and then evolve to the point that you are now considered "wise, kind,..." etc. more power to you. But you must realize that others have done the same thing and they don't necessarily give all the credit to a faith in a god. Give yourself credit for your positive growth.
You asked for evidence, Gregor, I gave it. From my perspective and my experience, I can do no less than give God credit. Agreed, others may have improved themselves on spit and vinegar, I won’t dismiss their experience either.
I started this topic to generate discussion on a subject that I feel strongly about.
If this is true, then introduce the topic properly. You have mixed a whole bunch of emotion with your reason, which waters down your argument, and the quality of the replies you will receive.
Please, if you find it upsetting, by all means ignore it. God knows (no pun intended) there are lots of other threads here.
You are reading too much emotion in to my response. Was your goal an emotional response from Christians or a logical one? Did you only read the first paragraph of my response? I am pretty sure I responded to your primary question. If God exists, why does he allow bad things to happen? I am "putting up" rather than "shutting up". Respect me enough at least to respond to my reason.
Bizzy-Bee:
Excuse me, but that was incredibly presumptuous and condescending, surpassed only by actually doing it - and with strikethroughs, no less!
I’ve been re-reading material on logical argumentation. Gregor’s question was very bad. If he wanted a “straight”, “logical” answer, he had to phrase his question differently.
Kid-A:
I fear you will not get a "logical" answer from a "believer" on this thread because their "belief" by definition, is based upon "faith", which has no relationship to logic whatsoever.
I took this statement as a premature declaration of victory. I welcome your comments on my response as well.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/112501/1965513/post.ashx#1965513