Dear Foxy,

«I was taught that God is the creator of the universe.
A supreme being - greater than ourselves - infinite (unlimited
in nature)...

You can call all of that simplistic.»

It is simplistic, theologically speaking, but there is nothing wrong about being simplistic.
For sophisticated, highly intellectual people there are more sophisticated descriptions,
nonetheless, either way the human mind, even the sharpest, cannot grasp God, only limited ideas ABOUT God.

One could think of God as the creator of the universe,
that would not be wrong,
that would be true in a sense, in a simplistic sense, which is perfectly good enough for many.

If you read Genesis 1:1 untranslated, where English translations say
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth",
the word 'created' there, 'bara' in Hebrew (2nd word), doesn't mean it the way humans create new things: it literally means "carved out space" (the same word that is used when clearing a forest to make room for a settlement). Since all is God, where can there be space for a world - where possibly can there be heaven and earth? So God had to carve that space for them both out of Himself.

That is an intermediate explanation - and there are even more sophisticated explanations, but ultimately no words can describe God, so if your concept of God is simplistic, if you just label God as "Creator" and leave it at that, then this too is as good as it gets, so long as it encourages you to live your life in the spirit of God.

"As far as I know - no one has argued anyone into believing."
- Are you sure about that?

Part 1.

Nice Lady: "Do you believe in Jesus?"
Young boy: "I don't know"
Nice Lady: "Well you don't want to go to hell do you?;
If you don't want to go to hell you must believe in Jesus;
So do you believe in Jesus?"
Young Boy: "I guess so"

Part 2. 'Scripture phase'...

Something for the 'proud' Australians to comment on !

https://youtu.be/eLqoWYrzBYw?si=NOApzRLO99iJydv-

Hi Indy,
China knows the U.S. can block their Sea Lines Of Communication (SLOC) at the Malacca Strait and other straits in the Java Sea, and destroy their economy, they rely on oil shipments from Iran amongst other things.
- Probably the reason why China started the Belt and Road initiative.
China lacks the military power to protect their shipping.

As for Thailand, the U.S. will just overthrow the country if they have to and put a stop to it.

There's a 2006 policy paper entitled
String Of Pearls: Meeting The Challenge Of China's Rising Power Across The Asian Littoral
http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep11277?seq=1

Did you see the other trade route through Pakistan?
That's the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
The U.S is sponsoring terrorists from Baluchistan to hamper it.

http://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/pakistan-dangerous-reality-working-china-s-megaprojects

Even when you think the world is at peace, the U.S. is still quietly causing conflict with it's adversaries and it uses this conflict to justify more actions.

They say things like "We don't want conflict", but what they're really saying is their wouldn't be conflict if these other nations just bent the knee and subordinated themselves to U.S. interests.

The U.S. policy is based around the Wolfowitz doctrine, they wish to prevent the re-emergence of Russia as a global power and prevent China from becoming a global power.

U.S. Strategy Plan Calls For Insuring No Rivals Develop
http://fridayeveryday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/wolf-doctrine-737x1024.png

Peter Dutton claims Australia’s UN vote for Palestinian state a threat to ‘civilisation itself’
http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/opposition-warns-australiaisrael-relationship-at-lowest-ebb-in-decades/news-story/8d2609a15286ab63fd4d7092a63b85b0
The Opposition Leader attacked Australia’s shift to support a UN motion calling for a peaceful settlement of Palestine, claiming it is a threat to “civilisation itself”.

What the hell is this nutjob talking about exactly?

>>“And it’s not just about the Jewish community, not just about Israel. It’s about civilisation itself,” he said.

“And it’s about the values that we have as Westerners and as a culture that’s worth protecting and defending.”<<

Again, what values?
What values are you talking about Dutton?
Can anyone explain to me what these values are exactly?

Why on earth can't Israel just state it's borders?
(Answer - Because it's not satisfied with the current ones - derr)
- And why can't anyone of standing JUST BLOODY WELL SAY IT?

Are we not getting sick of the elephant in the room
That everyone just pretends isn't there?

.

It should be recalled that religion originated as a strategy for survival of our early ancestors. It does not necessarily depend on the existence of a god or gods but, it definitely depends on the belief that there is a god or gods.

I think there is a lot of truth in the opinion attributed to Saul of Tarsus as expressed in Ephesians 2:8-9 :

« 8. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9. not by works, so that no one can boast »

Religion continues to serve mankind as a strategy of survival in times of woe and extreme distress. There are frequent examples of this during natural disasters when people are found miraculously alive and well, trapped under tons of concrete and rubble, long after rescue operations are officially abandoned, and all hope is lost. Many victims, saved in extremis, attribute their remarkable survival and ultimate rescue to their unwavering faith in a god or gods, the Virgin Mary, or some other supernatural being.

It is their faith that helps them to wait patiently in the assurance that somehow, they will be saved. It protects them from panic, stress, fear, anguish, despair and depression. It gives them strength to resist pain, discomfort, heat, cold, claustrophobia, isolation, thirst and hunger. It helps them support their dirty, suffocating prisons, for extremely long periods, never knowing if it is day or night.

It is their faith that helps them to survive, not necessarily some supernatural being. It is their family or friends with the help of a team of trained and experienced rescue operators, not religion, who finally manage to locate and extract them from under tons of concrete and rubble.

Miracles do occur.

.