What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Randy Carson]

This is simply wrong, Jenny.

We're not speaking of temptation here. Temptation is the opportunity to sin, and temptations are everywhere.

For example, for men who are more visually oriented than women when it comes to the opposite sex, pretty girls are everywhere; thus, temptation is everywhere. But we don't have to give into the temptation by acting on that opportunity.

What Jesus spoke of was NOT temptation but embracing the temptation and committing the sin mentally. The man who sees a naked woman and thinks, "Wow, she's cute" has NOT had sex with her in his mind. The man who sees the same woman (or one who is fully clothed) and starts to imagine "doing" her has committed a sin even though it was not committed physically.

And, I'm not the least bothered by the man who does her in his head.  What he does in the space of his own mind is fine by me.  Seriously.  In the case of imagining sex I'm really, really not bothered.  In the case of imaging murder, I'm only bothered if he's working himself up to the actual crime by thinking it out rather than just fantasizing.  It's acts in the real world that concern me.

Now, there are circumstances in which if someone obsesses about sex with a woman he can't have, or murder that he might hurt himself mentally.  That is a good reason for not obsessing, but the victim would be himself not others.

That's fine, Jenny, but this is just your personal opinion. God has called us to a higher standard.

The irony of this is that you know this is true because everyone goes absolutely ballistic when a Catholic priest commits a sin. Why? Because it is understood even by atheists that Christians are supposed to live by a higher standard. When they fail to do so, the hypocrisy is seen by all.

Well, sure. An angry, hate-filled man with a gun IS more dangerous. But they are BOTH angry, hate-filled men. Jesus would object to the hatred of both equally.

And I would object to hateful actions.   The idea of condemning a man for being hate-filled is abhorrent to me.

So, it's perfectly okay to be consumed by hatred as long as....what? I don't say or do anything to anyone else?

Of course. But would you agree that IF God exists, then He would know the inner thoughts of man? And if God judges according to a higher standard, then not only the actions of men but the thoughts of men must be considered by God?

So, it is consistent to believe that IF a holy and righteous God exists, then He calls us to a higher standard than we might otherwise aspire to if left to our own devices.

Actually not necessarily, you would have to define the attributes about the god we are talking about, before I'd agree he would know our inner thoughts.

God is omniscient. That is an attribute of God that feel certain you have heard before.

And if such a god existed and he did know them, then I would appreciate very much if he didn't spy and left people's inner thoughts to themselves.   You proposed standard is reminiscent of Orwell's 1984 and replacing Big Brother with god makes it no better.

That is exactly the point I have made again and again concerning the "evidence" of God that you and others keep demanding.

If God were to intrude into our individual lives in visible ways, then you and others would resent Him.