Possibly not a tough question in itself, but I am left wondering how the US conservative christian vote benefits anyone other than Machivalean politics? Given that one quarter of the US electorate are christian voters, it should not come as any surprise to us that presidential hopefuls Obama and McCain were keen to meet with church leader Rick Warren this week to discuss Christian issues - a useful opportunity to ‘woo’ the christian faithful and feign interest at their requests/wishlist.

That said, the televised event did reveal that the men were very different in their ideals with Obama in support of same sex partnerships and definate terms for abortion, while McCain advocated pro-life issues and preserving the sanctity of marriage. Not that this is a surprise as each had said as much previously and to proffer something different now would surely elicit a cry of lack of integrity from the other candidate’s party.

Whatever you make of the positions of each presidential hopeful, it really does seem that these events have only one objective in mind and that is to secure the block vote of one group or another. In Obama’s case, if he can’t win the conservative evangelicals, he is certainly going to have a good chance with the gay community and the postmodern thinkers?

To me, this is pretty much the same as when politicians are keen to be seen kissing babies for photo opportunities and has nothing to do with real politics. However, Obama did help himself a lot by saying that America’s greatest moral failure was its insufficient help to the disadvantaged, citing Jesus’ words:  ”Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me”  - something which reveals that he has a working knowledge of Jesus’ teaching and a more than sound understanding of the social implication of the gospel.

Conversely, McCain’s observation that America’s moral failure was its self centred behaviour  also is astute but one wonders what gospel he reads when he suggests that in the wake of 9/11 people should have been encouraged to form civil defence groups and movements - hardly the call of the Great Commision in Matthew 28 but then this is US politics……..

In consideration of this question ‘Does God allow suffering?’ there can only be one answer - yes! True, this answer is simplistic and does not develop any real understanding of the reasons why suffering exists in the world but it belies a correct statement - that God does allow suffering to occur in our world. Read the rest of this entry »

Although its not my intention to comment on the events happening at Lakeland (Florida) in which followers are reporting many miraculous healings, there does seem to be a prevailing emphasis in evangelical circles that these are opportunities to prove God’s existence in very real and verifiable ways. Read the rest of this entry »

‘At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which one you believe in, there’s only one God, right?’

Comment?

One of the main complaints that people have with the idea of a loving God is the notion that natural disasters are an unnecessary feature of creation that brings about human suffering. Of course, this presumes that these natural disasters are not an integral part of the way in which the world has been designed to operate and be sustained. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi and welcome! My name is Bob and this is the place where you have an opportunity to discuss issues and pose questions about the themes considered on this website.

The blog is currently operated by a small team (and me!) who are committed to thinking through these issues in a rational and informed manner. Let me state right away that we do not have many answers for you, but our hope is that this blog will be a useful place for you and us to begin to articulate and think through these questions in a more in-depth and considered way.

Possibly you are here because you have read ‘The God of the Cruel World’ and you now want to research these issues further. Or maybe you agree/disagree with the content of the book or have a different way of thinking about some of the subjects that were addressed. Whatever your reason for joining this blog, you are welcome and we look forward to what you will contribute to discussion.

A little bit about myself – as you will know from my bio I am an ordained minister and author of ‘The God of the Cruel World’ which is my first book – actually as I post this entry, the book is being revised with its ISBN in order that it may be more available to the online community. Other projects I am currently developing include a second book called ‘Plausible Alternatives’ which attempts to provide more rational explanations for the events described in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. You will gather from this that I do not subscribe to literalist understandings of ‘Genesis narrative’ but I do believe that there is scope for understanding these passages in a way that remains true to scripture without becoming unreasoning in the process. My hope is to post extracts of this book at some point in the forthcoming weeks but in the meantime please do feel free to open discussion on this subject or any other issues addressed on this site.