Teancum

I retract my statement. 😁

Certainly the passage can be extrapolated to include abortion. I really do not want to wade into an abortion debate. Personally, I oppose abortion and think the stand the church has is reasonable. As my politics have trended more liberal over the years I have struggled to reconcile my view on abortion with my support for more liberal candidates on the issue. My only reconciling factor is that the current GOP and their filed of candidates so repugnant that I have to hold my nose on the liberal candidates abortion provisions.

You may want to check that. Marrying age for women at the time was 20-25 years old.

Odd that that Jesus never said one word about abortion. Not while alive. Not in an canonized modern revelation.

Could you please clarify the bolded item above? I do not see the correlation.

It seems to me one always ought to be cautious buying into claims of some self anointed recipient of visions and revelations that grant that person some special insight. Especially when it blatantly contradicts the body of evidence.

If there is an afterlife, I hope we can more fully enjoy physical activities without the wear and tear that I know my favorite sport of endurance cycling imposes on on my body. And I want continuous learning especially of the sciences, of which I am a neophyte on. And of course I would hope I can continue to associate with my family and friends in the same relationships I have with them now.

A quick thought. I used to think this way as well. That the only way we could learn to become a god and to be like Christ, was to suffer through all the awful suffering a life can bring, whatever that may be. I am still sympathetic to that if I believed that we actually do become a god like being.

I am quite fine with you or any others sharing their thoughts. This is a topic that is incredibly important I think, not just to me, but to all of us. It is a serious topic. And I have appreciated everyone's comments. I want to give some comments to this and some other posts. But I have to punt for a bit. I am still a part time partner at a CPA firm doing tax work. And the final deadline of 10/15 is almost here. And then I leave for a ten day trip out of the country. So, I promise to revisit this down the road. I just don't have the time to some thoughtful comments myself. Thank you all!

How is this different though from say a walk in the woods or a hike to a mountain top that generates a sense of peace and calm?

I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I have more thoughts but I have grandkids here and pizza is on its way! 😁

I used to be able to do that. Radical acceptance. Abrahamic trials. It eventually broke for me.

I like the idea that not all events are attributable to a God being. But the idea that he sent us here to be tested while causing us to forget everything I find much more difficult to accept. Yet such tings are so grossly unfair. You and I were born into abundance and thank God for our food. Others, they were born into a place where food may be hard to come by. How is the randomness of fair is God loves all his children eqiually? I think your daed was born into a place where he could easily be a bit flippant about it. And I do not mean that as an insult. Good things if you want to continue to believe in God.

I used to love this quote. I came to feel differently about it. So my honest, and not taunting question to you is, why? Why would a loving God test and try us, intentionally intentionally, in such a way in order to inherit the celestial glory? Why? It seems cruel to me. Would any of us intentionally inflict such suffering on one of our children?

Seems like a lop sided relationship.