I will be working out of town this Sat/Sun :(, so I will catch up to all of you on Monday.

All have a blessed week end.

Go Lakers!

the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish

Hello Pura,

The word "God" for me is the name of a great creator that I have a personal relationship with through Jesus Christ because Christ bridged the gap between me and the father when he died on a cross for my sins. He is the first and the last. I can see how the lost would differ, as I once was you (lost). He is the product of my strength because of my righteousness through faith. Stronger is a man on his knees humbled, than a man full of pride and driven by. Easier it is, to go one's own way than the way of the righteous. Narrow is the path, and few find it, because few are willing to chose, but, every knee will bow down to him on the day of the Lord.

Your heart is hard, and I expect nothing but a response like this from you. I know you do not ask for it, and possibly do not want it, but I refuse to stop praying for you Pura.

Tony

I don't necessarily think that's a true statement in the long run, and if that path is walked consistantly.  Obviously, for any quick one time decision, I would agree that it is easier.

Einstein also said God doesn't play dice with the cosmos.

Pura, you remind me of the Pastor in the movie Caddyshack, who also became a non-beliver.

Hey everyone, been to Colorado and back just catching up. I did stumble on this and thought I would share it. I t is a little long but worth the read.

RATIONAL THOUGHT REPLACES THE GOD OF MY YOUTH

I was raised a Roman Catholic in a home where the name of Jesus Christ and God was never mentioned. I was encouraged to attend catechism and church every weekend, but the concept of God was never made completely real to me. I entertained the notion as any child would, but I just wasn't into the imaginary friend scene and by the time I was thirteen, I had concluded that God was merely a vicious adult version of the Easter bunny. I abandoned the lie, informed my upset parents that I would no longer be attending church, and began seeking truth.

In the absence of a religious belief to answer life's questions, I turned my mental energy to science. Science had an awesome track record of solving many problems and its resulting technology had provided tangible benefits to all of mankind. Science was the answer! I reasoned that if we could educate our populations and continue to make advances in medicine, agriculture and energy production, we would one day have the mythical Eden as our reality.

I threw myself into my studies, determined to become a scientific messiah who would one day deliver people from the bondage of disease. At the age of sixteen, my IQ and my grades made me eligible for my high school's early release program and I began my studies in biology and chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh.

RATIONAL THOUGHT REPLACES MY COMPASSION FOR OTHERS

I graduated from college with high honors and my prized science degree, but I had lost any motivation to apply that knowledge. I recalled staring at a swarming mass of termites one sunny day, thinking that, from a comparative distance, there was little difference between them and us. I smashed a few dozen with my shoe and ground them into the dirt. What did it matter if these died? What did it matter if they all died? People died every day. The end result would always be death for both the individuals and, eventually, the species.

Humanity had become nothing more to me than an organized network of molecules and enzymes. I viewed people as mere organisms going through their daily routines of metabolizing nutrients and expelling wastes, ovulating their eggs and ejaculating their semen. I knew the psychology of humans almost as well as their anatomies. The hidden things that pulled them this way and that were very evident to me. They were like guinea pigs, only more predictable, and my chief form of entertainment was to see how skillfully I could manipulate them. I knew that I was supposed to care about them, but I didn't. I couldn't. If mankind's goal was to alleviate its own suffering, a bullet to the head was more efficient and made more sense in my thinking than screwing around with medication or disease control.