that's the beauty of America, danny...you don't HAVE to!

(about the only freedom we have left...for NOW!)

Speaking of birth defects like mental illness, why are the truly innocent afflicted? Are they being punished for sins they will commit later?

Life is all choices. That is why we have free will. Many things influence choice.

Life is choices strike2x as you say. I'm Adlerian - a colleague of Sigmund Freund - who later distanced himself from Sigmund, who was writing and teaching that choices we make by age 6 determine who we become. Adler said.... no, choices in "life" determine the behaviors in adults. I agree with Adler, but Sigmund is not obsolete.

Atheists, like many people today, think they have landed in modern time intelligence more than previous generations of humans, (each generation thinks they are smarter than those who came before... ask your 16 year old) and they have found a "new" place of neutrality among all the battling tribes in America.

Well, they suffer from the age old "illusion of original thought" because atheists (There is no God, therefore something always existed) have existed since at least the 1st century AD. The new age atheists called "brights" are like the old. The same faith in nothingness. "a" (there is not) + "theos"(god) = atheist is from the Greek language and it was the disbelief in the official gods of the pagan state. This same disbelief was used against Christians in the 2nd century with vigor and then went silent for about 1900 years until now. Modern atheists are proliferating in the 20th on into this century.
And we see what that does to a culture as far as "traditional values."

With belief in no God, the free will is free to do and be whatever, whenever, to whomever.
And why not?

Blessings and I'm glad Theos didn't make a bunch of puppets for His Glory and still saves us sinners day in and day out.
Mark

Let the dead bury their dead.

You folks sure type a lot without ever answering.

I guess attacking the questioner is easier than those age old questions

I have a brother who has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia all of his adult life. I've asked myself those questions many times.

Posco I am genuinely sorry to read that. Has to be hard.

It doesn't really matter (nature versus nurture).
Some people are seem to be born with things such as kleptomania. Does that make it okay for them to go through life stealing? of course not.

Some people are born with physical birth defects, some are born with mental defects. I know it doesn't seem right, however we are born into a broken world. Some people say "it's not fair" and blame God.

God has provided an answer to this brokenness if we would just acknowledge and act on His provision.

I will admit though, the church has not historically treated broken people very well, we tend to pick and choose .

I believe it is choice. But agree with your son in law that it doesn't matter. Say it is by birth. Does that give someone that is attracted to little kids carte blanche to follow his desires? ALL people at some point have the urge to commit sins. Whether it's murder, adultery, theft, or what have you. Just because you have that desire doesn't mean you follow through on it.

Thank you, Danny. I know that's sincere. If my brother were living in the time of the New Testament, Jesus might have cast a demon out of him. I've heard the most blasphemous things come out of his mouth one could imagine. Why? I think my brother dwells in a reality that we can't perceive but is very real to him. The maniac of Gadara comes to mind. I've seen so many of the same things displayed in his behavior it leaves me little doubt.

I've often thought, reading the descriptions of people whom Jesus cast demons out of, that in many cases they seemed similar to many of our mental illnesses today.

“false teachers and false people”


Because you say so?

Nice try Tailhunter. If you read my posts, you'll see I present what is an effort by many to revitalize the church which has wandered into areas never ordained in the Bible.
If you have more than a poke at the bear, insight is always encouraged here.

Because we're not cancel culture here.
Are you?

Blessings,
Mark

You can’t back out now. You put it up there for a reason and it wasn’t to be polite. Don’t you think God is big enough to handle things if they are out of line. I believe thats his job.

And the damage you could do if you are wrong …