This is my response to ttbn, who said:
"I'm a half-arsed Christian. I'm not sure if God exists, or if there's an afterlife;"

As a Christian, I agree with you that "I cannot believe that this life is as good as it gets!" We believe that the afterlife will be more rewarding and less frustrating and more "good" than the life we experience here. To spend eternity with our Saviour and Lord is something Christians look forward to.

But to backtrack; you're not sure that God exists. To be brief, I DO believe that God exists, and here is why- In all the history of man, the only 2 conclusions we have come to about origins are that either 1) We were made by a spiritual being who exists outside of matter and time (which I adhere to)
Or 2) We are the result of some huge cosmic accident (macro evolution), in which case life is meaningless, futile and not worth living as there is nothing beyond the grave.

Recently whilst looking at the probability that component parts of a simple protein could assemble itself by accident, I was reminded that the chances are 1 in 10 with 80 zeros after it, or some even calculate 10 with 40,000 zeros following it. This is a number so large, it is greater than all the atomic particles in the cosmos. So if you were to believe we are here because of chance, the deal is I go out into the cosmos somewhere (maybe a dust cloud in a distant galaxy) and attach a sign with your name on it, to an electron, or a neutron on some atom particle somewhere. Then I come back and ask you ttbn, to guess which particle I have chosen. You get to think about where I might have been, and which atomic particle I might have chosen. And then you make your guess/announcement. And you only get ONE go at it. What do you think your chances are, of picking the very particle which I have previously chosen. To be continued...

Continuing discussion with correspondent tbbn:

A distant possibility you say? Well that is the chance that even the beginnings of life evolved by chance. For me, it illustrates that possibility number 2 is impossible, which leads me to the conclusion that option #1 is the only answer, ie that there is a being out there we call God who is responsible for this life we lead.

So that is my reason for believing the life has meaning, and that purpose and meaning is found in the Christian God of the Bible.

The Guardian is one of the few media covering events in Indonesia- East Timor- Papua New Guinea

This story is rather arresting:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/31/an-earthquake-racism-rage-and-rising-calls-for-freedom-in-papua

It's weird how many people ignore the article under discussion and just go on and talk about something completely unrelated. Unless I'm missing something here?

Meanwhile The Guardian continues to be the best journal covering the region to our north: students apparently killed by soldiers in Papua

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/02/west-papua-students-killed-by-militias-as-video-of-soldiers-firing-on-crowds-emerges

Waverley,

<<It's weird how many people ignore the article under discussion and just go on and talk about something completely unrelated.>>

This is an excellent point. It gets back to: Can we love or be friends of those with whom we disagree.

The Christian Scriptures address this. In the Old Testament the Jews were commanded by God to love their neighbours (Leviticus 19:18). The inference could be that they were not to love their enemies.

Jesus Christ changed that message, 'But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you' (Luke 6:27-28).

Jesus explained: 'If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Even the tax collectors do that. If you greet only your own people, what more are you doing than others? Even people who are ungodly do that. So be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect' (Matthew 5:46-48).

This is a humongous ethical shift if ever we are to get close to Australia's neighbours becoming our friends. Jesus' called upon his followers to practise love all the people - of PNG, the Solomons, Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. It won't happen if we see a repeat of the Peter Dutton stubborn resistance to keeping the Tamil family out of Australia.

To extend unconditional love to our neighbours, including the Tamil family, it will be demonstrated in compassionate action towards them - 'Back to Bilo' where they have been integrated into a caring community.

Daleo,

<<Recently whilst looking at the probability that component parts of a simple protein could assemble itself by accident, I was reminded that the chances are 1 in 10 with 80 zeros after it, or some even calculate 10 with 40,000 zeros following it.>>

What a splendid example to show that such a complicated design as for a simple protein requires, something or someone with such creative power. Chance happenings will not do it.

Now extend your example to a portion of the universe. The BBC reported: 'Today we are fairly confident that the Milky Way is probably between 100,000 and 150,000 light years across. The observable Universe is, of course, much larger. According to current thinking it is about 93 billion light years in diameter', http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160610-it-took-centuries-but-we-now-know-the-size-of-the-universe

That's only a fraction of the universe and it fits perfectly with the evidence God said we have to seek for examples of His existence: 'For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse' (Romans 1:20), http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom+1&version=NIVUK