Dear PK
I'll ignore the abuse and continue with explaining the 'unexplainable' :)

I can recognise the pattern in what you are presenting. Sadly, it is because you are outside of Christ, that you see things in that way.

'CHOSEN RACE' your comment on this, was illustrative of your general lack of understanding of the History of Salvation as recorded in the Scriptures.

Genesis 12:3b in the context of the promise to Abraham as he was called out of his own people by God.

..and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

Did you note this ? who will be blessed by the 'choosing' of a special people ? "all the peoples on earth".....

That summarizes the purpose of Gods selecting Israel, NOT because of anything special in themselves, but that His eternal purpose and salvation might reach the ends of the earth.
As God says through the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 49:6
"It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

THE GOAL and purpose of Israel was that all the earth might know the salvation of God, which raises an important question.. "Are 'you' saved" ?
Is God 'your' God ? have you given your heart to Him ? I can only raise the question, u can provide the answer, and not to me, but to Him.

BOAZ_David

Are you the same BOAZ_David who in another forum suggests privatising marriage, so that gay relationships could be on the same footing as straight ones? http://www.indegayforum.org/authors/boaz/boaz2.html

That would be a less unexplainable thing to explain than the unexplainable thing you tried to explain in your previous post, an explanation I might add that needs further refinement before I am able to grasp it, even in part.

If God had picked homosexuals rather than Jews as the Chosen People (remember, he created both) wouldn't that have allowed the end of the Chosen Race to come centuries sooner - and by natural attrition rather than by fire and brimstone? He could have gotten over all the Rapture and Ascent to Heaven stuff that happens when any project goes wrong - search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent and rewarding of the bystanders - maybe in the 6th or 8th century. Instead of waiting until the 21st. Or even later.

Then with a clean slate, He could have started to create humanity Mark II and correct basic engineering mistakes in the Mark I model. Such as a brain apt to suffer from terminal gullibility.

The alchemist,

Your pedagogical and child rearing skills are distorted.

A belief in itself has no power unless it is accepted.

I don’t agree with your conclusive outcome that the mere expression of a belief should result in fear of that belief.

Why can’t it just be accepted or refuted without rebelion or submissiveness?

”If you can be tolerant towards the child's growing understandings and not enforce or express your own, then you show love.”

Not always. In your case for example it would be impossible not to enforce on a child your “conviction” of 'no god'.

Would you send them to Sunday school as 'an investigative exercise in growing and understanding'? I doubt it.

Would You be showing love?

You would blame yourself for ever if s/he becomes a born again child of God.

So your submissive indoctrination of your beliefs is inevitable also.

"Having to enforce rules, means you have lost their trust and become intolerant”?

Not necessarily. Where do you draw the line? Would you let a six year old experiment with drugs or sex?

… accept everyones reality.”?

What if their reality represents a real threat to your very existence?

“If god were true loving and caring for its creation, it would surely direct and guide those that follow it, by using its power over all, the facts show the opposite.”?

That statement is in direct contradiction with your laisser faire approach to freedom of choice.

Actually this is as true a description of who God is as you might ever come up with. Well done!

God is Love but does not force His love upon us. We choose to accept it or rebel against it.

“If you have veracity of your claims, there is no need to try and change others, your example would suffice.”

How so? If you had a cure for a type of cancer or knowledge of an oncoming tsunami would you just keep it to yourself?

And if you did; how could that be God’s fault?

See we can’t blame God (Monotheism) for all our wickedness.

Dear Mike
no, I'm not that guy, I've been not only asked that b4, I've been outright accused of BEING him.... but I'm not.

On your rather involved logic/reasoning.. I can't go too far into hypertheticals mate.. I used to do that myself b4 coming to know Christ. My former RAAF Bible bashing room-mate will testify to that.

All I can say is this.. let me describe the relationship between the non Christian and the Christian toward God, as stated in Ephesians 2.

This is quite 'blunt' and does not pull punches: Paul writing to Christians at Ephesus..

1/ The Non Christian

[[ 1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath......
11 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world

2/ The Christian

(these are the most beautiful words a sinner can here)

4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. ]]

That is it in a nutshell mate...

Far....brought near...
Lost... found
Estranged... Reconciled
Dead...given life.

... and this is the gift of God.

BOAZ_David,

Thanks for the clarification.

I come back to my previous point though. God did not do a real good job of designing the human race. There are bits left over like the appendix and pubic hair and abdominal fat that were probably in a prototype for reasons that have now vanished.

There's the awkward crossover between the esophagus and the windpipe that provides the opportunity for people to choke to death. There's the way that eyeballs lose their elasticity so that old people are unable to read text.

Then of course there's things like George Bush.

BOAZ_David, be really, really honest.

If You were the Divine Creator looking down on all this mess, wouldn't You want to clean it all off and start afresh?

Adoring creatures modelled on hamsters would be a good way to start.

Tolerance.....?

Just what is tolerance from the Muslim viewpoint.

The Cartoon Controversy
Understanding Muslim reaction to the Mohammed cartoons
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/TheCartoonControversy.htm

and a Danish response
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/CartoonControversy-DanishResponse.htm

Obviously they are tolerant as long as everyone bows to their viewpoint.....