How does religion explain birth defects?

[Welsh cake]

God actually has held back, because he loves us. We ALL deserve eternal damnation, because we are all sinful. God could destroy us all because we have turned away from Him, and have sinned. He would be totally justified in doing that.

Except people aren't inherently immoral, we live in the real world where people commit moral and immoral acts all the time. Does the Biblical God always behave accordingly? Most certainty not, he slaughters people, sometimes innocent children, indiscriminately. Punishing someone infinitely for a finite crime is not moral or just, and if he's really this omni benevolent sweet-heart deity you claim then why doesn't he just *forgive everyone*, make amends and get over his failed creation? Hate to break it to you but I'm way more moral than your god concept, I wish I could say the same about you.

We do however, have the absolute truth about Salvation. Everything else will just lead you down the broad path that leads to destruction. It isn't God being unjust when you will go to Hell when you die. He has given everyone the opportunity to choose eternal life with Him. It is your choice, He won't make it for you. One day everyone will bow before Him and acknowledge Him as Lord. If you don't choose to take His free gift, then you are choosing Hell. But you DO have a choice.

When we're dead we're dead, but for your argument's sake, if you claim I have a choice I for one choose not to accept his immoral bribe (punishing Jesus for other people's "crimes" is not justice in case you're still wondering) and I choose not to go to Hell. I'm afraid the ball is back in your God-concept's court.

YOU are the one who chooses eternal damnation. God doesn't make the choice for you. And He gave you a way to become right with Him. You don't think that doing that instead of just destroying you is holding back?

We've already established atheists don't send themselves to anywhere when we're all biologically dead. Do try to keep up with the rest of us.

God didn't create the sin.

I don't think you even know what you're professing. Any theologian will tell you that sin, in the context you're using it, is like an entity, which it is not, in religion it is an act against god. How can atheists act against a fictional being we don't think exists or manifests in reality?

Because none of those supposed "afterlifes" could be as wonderful as eternity with Him. It isn't like He is sending someone to Hell for no reason. Every one of us has the ability to choose, and if you don't choose Him, you choose Hell. And while he is all-loving, he is at the same time just, so He will abide by your wishes to not be with Him, so if you don't want to spend eternity with Him, you will spend it apart from Him

God isn't a Goddess with gigantic breasts therefore your concept of Heaven equals my concept of Hell. Just because you're with or without a higher being like God, IPU, Zeus or whatever doesn’t make your existence thereafter automatically wonderful or horrible, that's asinine to say the least, and what if the god of your choice got bored with your rabid loyalty and created another disobedient race to occupy itself with tormenting?

In any case would you mind explaining the logical contradiction of achieving separation from a being that is omnipresent?

It appears that you don't quite understand this: YOU have the ability to choose. If you want nothing to do with God, He will abide by your wishes and you will spend eternity apart from Him in Hell.

Okay and what if I was to choose to reject evidence-free God and go to evidence-free Heaven? If your assertion of the concept of self-determination stands up then I've just bunked your idol threat of hell. If not, then you are ranting and raving your one-and-only-life away about a philosophical viewpoint that has no bearing whatsoever on reality and making me waste my one-and-only-life away responding to your ranting and raving.