The problem in this discussion is not that a person like Krauthammer feels that the Tebow story is a good message and much better than the scores of stories about famous athletes who have gone astray. The problem is the people who know so little about religion that they think an allpowerful God should cure all illness and make life completely painless or those who think God helps athletes become rich and famous. People that understand Christianity and people like Tebow understand that Tebow is giving glory to God and not only doing it for what he gets in return. Only a non-believer could view it as God helping an athlete and withholding help from what would appear to be more worthy cases. Might I suggest you study up on free will and regularly attend some church services if you really want to understand how actual Christians view it and the message they receive. You've got it all wrong so it's no wonder you don't understand how it works.
No thanks. In fact, I've attended a fair share of church services in my day. So are you agreeing with me that Charles is ignorant? Because he's the one that believes that Lin and Tebow were (I believe he used the word) "chosen" by God.
Free will? What does free will have to do with anything if your view is that a god will deliver to you eternal damnation for not believeing in ancient word-of-mouth fables. He won't use his powers to provide evidence of his existence, or to save the life of a father who is dying from cancer treatment, but he will use his almighty power (which he used all the time in the Hebrew Bible) to help American celebrities. The only "free will" I see there is that of your God's... And that he chooses to be sadistic.
I am not agreeing with you (not sure where you got that idea). But, I also saw nothing in your links that mentioned Lin or that stated Krauthammer thought Tebow was "chosen" by God. I would not necessarily agree that God chose Tebow for anything.
Free will has everything to do with God not predetermining our actions, the outcomes, and the ability to accept that bad things can and do happen to good people. I only suggested that you try to understand faith and the ways of God better by learning a lot more about it than your comments lead me to believe you understand about it. I'm a Catholic (Protestant for the first 25 yrs of my life) and a Christian and the things you have stated are not what I have been taught in the churches I have attended and I don't believe they are true for most believers.
1- I don't believe "that a god will deliver to you eternal damnation for not believeing in ancient word-of-mouth fables" In fact I believe that God knows what is every person heart and that your soul will be dealt with accordingly. I don't think not being exposed to some truths, not going to church, being the "wrong" religion, heck even being an atheist, will necessarily cause eternal damnation. I think God is smart enough to know what is right in every case and I can't believe that he put us on this earth only to fail at living up to some unreachable standard.
2- I do believe he has "use(d) his powers to provide evidence of his existence". I have personally witnessed 2 occurances that I consider to be akin to miracles. I saw 2 angels come for my mother when she passed. Saw it the same as I am looking at my keyboard right now. And I was personally cured of one ailment that multiple doctors have told me was impossible. I won't go into to details but I am convinced it was the result of my faith in his ability to cure me if he desired to. I have also seen faith in God help many people through incredibly tough situations. I don't have an answer for why bad things happen to good people or why good things happen to bad people. But, those facts haven't been able to derail my faith as of yet.
3- I don't believe "he will use his almighty power (which he used all the time in the Hebrew Bible) to help American celebrities". That is just so strange, I can't even comment further. Just remember, simply because another human being claims it to be the case, doesn't mean that's the way it works or that others share that belief.
You have missed on all counts of what this person of faith believes and thinks. Whether you can or want to acknowledge it, there are things that surpass human understanding. I too wish I had all the answers and that all of them were concrete and undeniable but I also wish I had the winning lotto ticket and that the Huskers will go undefeated next season. I am not here to convert you or swing you over to "our" side. But I really do think you are missing some of the very important fine points of religion. Not much we can do about it if you are unwilling to attempt more than a few trips to "a fair share of church services". I would only request that you don't make the mistake of thinking you understand much about the ways of God or faith because you have exhibited that you don't.
