My Struggles With Christianity; THE STANDARDS FOR BEING A TEACHER AND A LEADER IN REFERENCE TO GOD ARE ALSO INCONGRUENT WITH WHAT WE HOLD FOR OUR OWN. WHY WOULD GOD MAKE IT SO HARD FOR US TO BELIEVE HIM, IF WE WERE MEANT TO BELIEVE HIM? WERE I A GOD, I WOULD MAKE MYSELF KNOWN AND SHOW MY CHILDREN THE PATH AND TEACH THEM DIRECTLY. NOT NEGLECT THEM AND LEAVE THEM TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. WHY WOULD A LOVING GOD PUT US ONTO AN EARTH JUST TO TEST US WITH THE RISK OF US DAMNING OURSELVES IN A SYSTEM DOOMED TO FAIL, THAT REQUIRES THE BLOOD SACRIFICE OF HIS ONLY SON TO SAVE US, TO SEND US IN A GUILT TRIP DEMANDING US TO PAY HOMAGE FOR THE SACRIFICE WE NEVER ASKED FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE, THUS ROBBING US OF OUR FREE WILL? YOU PRAY FOR WHAT YOU NEED, AND GOD PROVIDES. YET, FREE WILL OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE LABOR REQUIRED TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE ARE NOT UP FOR BEING CREDITED. IF YOU DON'T GET THE THING YOU PRAY FOR, IT'S BECAUSE IT WAS GOD'S PLAN. IN BOTH OF THESE INSTANCES, THIS TAKES AWAY ANY SEMBLANCE OF FREE WILL AND DISCREDITS YOUR EFFORTS IN MAKING IT HAPPEN. SO, WHY ASK GOD TO ALTER HIS DIVINE PLAN BY PRAYER ASKING HIM TO CHANGE THIS GRAND SCHEME JUST FOR YOUR LONE SOULS MATERIAL SATISFACTION IN A REALM THAT ISN'T ETERNAL, NOR DOES IT MATTER? IF SOMEONE YOU LOVE DIES OF NATURAL CAUSES, IT WAS GOD'S PLAN. IF SOMEONE YOU LOVE DIES AT THE HANDS OF ANOTHER, NOT ONY WAS IT GOD'S PLAN, BUT IT WAS FREE WILL EXERCISED BY THE MURDERER - AND IT WAS GOD'S PLAN FOR THE MURDERER TO KILL.
