I'm curious about what people think when you hear the word 'afterlife'. Is there even an afterlife? Heaven? H-E-L-L? Purgatory? Nirvana? Spirit world? Does anyone believe that we choose every aspect of our lives before we are born? Does anyone believe in reincarnation? Is there a god? Or a goddess? I struggled with AA because I'm not religious or anything. I don't like the word god. I feel like that an all loving god cannot exist considering that, with a snap of his fingers, he could prove to the world he is real, but doesn't. Or at least stop bad things that happen to children.
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Can I help a little with the struggle of "a loving God wouldn't let..."
In the beginning according to scripture God gave dominion or control of his creation to man. When Adam fell he turned control of his heart to evil and thus the control of the world is dependent on mankind. Scripture tea he's that the heart dwells on evil continually. If God took control from man and stopped all this bad, then all of his law, and all of his word would be brought to nothingness. As bad as this world is, we can o ly blame put own evil. His gift of dominion in this world means we have to return it to him for him to act. Truth is a loving God allows us the time to understand this and return to him. This is what scripture is supposed to teach us.
Okay... I don't feel like it's right to claim a being is all loving if he will send you to H-E-L-L for something that someone else did. He expects us to ask for forgiveness for something we didn't do (original sin - Adam and Eve eating the apple.). He will send unbaptized babies to H-E-L-L. But aren't the parents calling the shots...? Makes zero sense. He wouldn't have to stop all the bad. But Jesus frickin' Christ. Can't he at least save the children? Or... Maybe he doesn't want to. Does he know everything before it happens...? Is everything thing, even the stupidest, tiniest thing, all destined to happen...? If so, do we really have free will...? I think that all living beings have free will. Humans just have a confusing, complex brain while animals seem like simpletons. They only difference is that animals hunt to eat, not for sport. We as humans over indulge while animals seem content to know what they have is enough. Honestly, isn't his word nothingness now...? Didn't Jesus being born change things...? Plus, how do we know if what the scripture is telling us is the truth...? After all, man wrote and rewrote, translated and retranslated, very badly might I add, the book called the Holy Bible.
You've left a lot to unpack in your last response. I would like to have this conversation but not in open forum. If you want just send me a friend request and we can chat.