Question for freethinkers

[diffidus]

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You can call it what you like. You're saying I can't have doubts and faith, which I've shown is categorically wrong. My entire belief does not break from one moment of doubt, because doubt is an instance and belief is a collection of congruent and fortified instances. I will answer your question. I am as close to a gnostic 100% belief that God exists as I could get to anything. For instance I support the statement that If I know anything that is real or useful, it is that God exists. I equate my level/intensity of faith with my belief in gravity. I "know" if I throw an apple up it will fall, There are instances that could make that not happen (ie. in space or an anti-gravity chamber), but for all practical usefulness and purposes, the apple falls and God exists for me. I have instances of doubts just as it's possible for the apple not to fall, but there's a proven track record of personally reliable information supporting his existence for me.

Diffidus:

Yes - and you can show me the apple falling at any time I request it. But you cannot show me your God.

Aberfan is a tiny mining community in Wales UK. In 1966 the little children of this small town had gone to school in the morning as usual. They went into the assembly hall, for the usual routine announcements, which finished in the usual manner, with a Hymn. There little innocent voices could be heard from outside:

"All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things bright and wonderful
The Lord God made them all"

Shortly after this, a rumbling sound was heard and a huge mountain of slag avalanched on top of the school killing 116 school children, many young infants, and also a number of teachers and other adults. The rescue attempts were desperate - parents were screaming and digging the slag with there bare hands. Some parents lost there entire family of children.

God has sufficient power that he could have nudged the slag heap a couple of hours earlier, before the school children arrived. Imagine if you had such power, what would you do?

I find it hard to have faith in a God that has such power but just stood there and watched!!

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You can pull the appeal to emotinalism anytime, it really doesn't make any difference to me. But perhaps you'll understand why I ignore it, we're talking about the etymology of faith and belief. I clearly showed you where they are not mutually exclusive and for the third time you ignore it. Very intellectually dishonest. Then you ask for material (show me/ let me see it) evidence for the immaterial. Capped off with an emotional appeal about kids dying... really this isn't worth anymore of my time. Stick to the topic and show some courage and conviction of ideals before we discuss again, maybe then I'll answer more questions.

Diffidus:

There is no emotional appeal only cold hard facts. These facts may evoke an emotion in you, but they are facts. I notice that I give you facts and you give me some irrelevant academic argument about the difference between faith and belief - a point that I didn't even question in my post.

The reality is: I pose a real question about real events in the world and you have no answer to it. So I will ask again - why did God stand and watch the Aberfan disaster?