usahog,
I a cracking up at the image of you going to Israel...my friend, that is one of the most socialistic countries you will find. The legacy of the kibbutz permeates the entire social and political structure of the country. I suspect you'd be longing for the moderate politics of Gore and Clinton after not too long.
On the god thing...whatever. I couldn't figure out what you were saying. Are you saying the 'great merciful god' showed himself by only sending three thousand innocent people to a most horrific death? Damn. That is cold-hearted.
For what it is worth, I don't think this disaster means god does not exist. Not at all. As someone mentioned, there is the story about god that says 'we' have free will, for better or worse. In this case, for worse, and it isn't god's fault. That's a plausible position, I think.
But I also know this question tugs at the hearts of believers: why would an all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing god stand idly by while thousands die a horrific death? I am not criticizing faith here; it is a natural question, one that is probably unanswerable. I simply meant that the stamp raises the troubling question again, quite directly for me.
I have in mind Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and memoirist, who said that, given what he had seen and the utter absence of god's interventions, he had a lot of questions for god to answer upon his (Wiesel's) death. Wiesel is a devout believer. Quite orthodox. But he has questions, as I suspect we all do. It is ok to have questions, by the way. It doesn't mean you don't believe. That's why they call it faith, not knowledge.
Finally, usahog, thanks for telling me I have a simpleton's mind. Glad to see things can sink so low so fast. Love you, man.
You must be a motorcycle rider, right? Guessing from your name. I am also guessing from your hostility toward me that we can't take a ride anytime soon. Bummer. We might have more in common than you think.
John
