God

Q: Yesterday, my little grandson told me he was terrified of going to hell. For a moment, I didn't know how to reassure him. Then, I told him he shouldn't worry because very few people are going to hell. Most people who do bad things are actually going to heaven because they don't realize they're making mistakes. Next, I said to him. "I love you, right? If it was up to me, do you think I would send you to hell?" "Never!" he replied. "Then, how could God send you to hell when he loves you much, much more than I do?"

Most atheists don't have faith of any kind. What they do have is hope — a natural hope that the important things in our life will go well. A believer's prayer is an atheist's hope. Concerning the age-old cosmological question about the beginning of the universe, an atheist would have confidence (no faith required) in the consensus of the professionals, otherwise known as astrophysicists, cosmologists and astronomers. They spend nearly their entire adult lifetime to try and explain how the natural laws work in the universe.

Question: You say God made everything. You say you see God's light shining brilliantly through a text, etc. Do you also see God in the tsunami that wiped out 200,000 people, or in the murder of a 9-year-old child? — L., via godsquadquestion@aol.com Answer: Yes, I do see God in everything and hope that some day you can, too. I see God in the tsunami because the tsunami was caused by a living Earth that sustains life. The mantel over the core of Earth cracks, belches lava and causes earthquakes and tsunamis, but these are all natural events, not punishments from a vengeful God. Such events are also challenges to use our God-given intelligence — and the resources produced by that intelligence — to mitigate the effects of natural catastrophes.

Question : I'm a Holocaust survivor who made it to the United States through the Dominican Republic by a big miracle. As time went by, I realized one thing: God did not let the Holocaust happen; we let it happen. Recently, I read a newspaper article about the death of a 6-year-old child. This child had been suffering since the age of 2. She'd done nothing against nature. Her parents didn't even have a chance to teach her the difference between right and wrong. Why do children have to suffer before they even have a chance to enjoy life?

Question: It's amazing how you "learned theologians" always toe the party line: God is always responsible for the good things that happen, but good gosh, never responsible for the bad things because of "free will. " And God doesn't make garbage. Bunk. Hitler, Bin Laden and too many more names to fit on the page are all bad because of their environment? When a product is junk, you blame the manufacturer. I'd have more respect for you guys if you'd say God can and has been a screw-up, instead of the way you all tap dance around very valid questions with that "free will" nonsense.

The British during imperial times built golf courses in India, only to encounter an unexpected problem: monkeys delighted in joining the game by picking up golf balls and dropping them in other places, sometimes nowhere near where the shot had landed or the intended hole. Fences were useless in keeping monkeys off the course. Following the Darwinian principle of adapt or perish, the golfers finally accepted reality and changed the rules of the game. Should a monkey move one's golf ball, one had to play it from the spot where the monkey dropped it. Given that monkeys were indifferent to whether they improved the golfer's lie by their mischief or not, roughly as many strokes were gained as lost through this expedient.

He had been hiding for more than a month. He managed to escape into the desert when he first heard the news. The government death squads were after him. He was safe living in a desert cave, but now food and water were scarce. He could see himself dying soon, even if the assassins didn't find him. So, in desperation, he offered a "Hail Mary" prayer to God. The next night was strange. In the desert, there was a lighting fire storm with the loudest thunder he had ever heard.

Question: I lost my 22-year-old daughter to a possible heroin overdose. I won't have the answers until the medical examiner's office speaks to me in a few weeks. I found her on the floor of her bedroom. A syringe was found in her bed. She'd recently come home from rehab. While she'd only been back a month, I thought we were doing all right. Relapse was always a concern, but I never thought I'd lose her. I spoke to her that morning. She was excited about a job interview and we were getting a Christmas tree that afternoon.

I love the fact that that Passover and Easter, both being lunar holidays, usually overlap. This seems to me to be a sign from God that we're more the same than we are different. To be sure, the official theologies of Passover and Easter are fundamentally different. The Passover meal is eaten for God, and the Easter meal (the Eucharist) is eaten of God. In Easter, a man becomes God, and in Passover, a man leads an entire people to God at Mount Sinai. In Easter, atonement is made through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, while in Passover, the ancient biblical sacrifices offered at the Temple in Jerusalem remind us of how we still must sacrifice for our faith and seek atonement from God for our sins.

"And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. " — I Kings 19:12 (KJV) Recently, I've answered many questions from readers about God and evil. Many people wanted to know how a good and powerful God could be reconciled with the profound and proliferating instances of evil in the world. Now, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has sent shudders across our planet — and our lives — putting a bloody edge to such agonizing questions about God and goodness.

Most atheists don't have faith of any kind. What they do have is hope — a natural hope that the important things in our life will go well. A believer's prayer is an atheist's hope. Concerning the age-old cosmological question about the beginning of the universe, an atheist would have confidence (no faith required) in the consensus of the professionals, otherwise known as astrophysicists, cosmologists and astronomers. They spend nearly their entire adult lifetime to try and explain how the natural laws work in the universe.

Question: How can one's belief and/or faith have any influence whatsoever regarding what either is or is not absolute truth and/or reality? Isn't the kind of reality or truth you speak of more like the reality and truth of Santa Claus? Certainly, our beliefs and our faiths influence our behavior, but aren't you saying that our beliefs essentially create the reality of God in our lives? If so, then are you also willing to say that without these beliefs, God ceases to exist? More directly, does God have any separate existence apart from our beliefs?

Question: First, I'd like to tell you how much I love your column. I look forward to it every week. I can hardly wait until lunch to read it. I love your open-mindedness and appreciate your humor. Now, for the topic at hand: In 2007, I was at church during Divine Mercy Sunday and preparing for my confession. I was sitting by myself in the chapel, but there were several other people around talking quietly or meditating. All of a sudden, this "feeling" came over me. It was so incredible I had a hard time understanding what was happening.

Editor's Note: As people in Newport-Mesa and Irvine prepare to ring in 2012, the Pilot thought it fitting to re print this column that appeared under the old "Spiritual Guidance" heading in December 2007. * May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your urologist, your orthopedist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the IRS. May your hair, your teeth, your abs and your stocks not fall; may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol and your mortgage interest not rise.

Can one prove a negative hypothesis? It's usually very difficult to prove a negative hypothesis, but when a claim of attributes of a deity are made, and those claims have evidence that they do not exist, then it is partial proof of the non-existence of said deity. The claim: The God of the Bible hears prayers and answers them in the affirmative. "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. " (Matthew 21:22) "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution commits this nation to promoting the general welfare. In faith language, we would call that the "common good. " The federal budget should reflect a commitment to the common good by ensuring that the basic needs of all members of society are met. At this time when nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured, 37 million live in poverty, one in five children lives in a household experiencing food insecurity, and unemployment remains at historically high levels, additional cuts to critical human needs programs cannot be justified.

I appreciate Benjamin J. Hubbard's take on angels and demons, and the goodness of most people, and I respect the turn to religion to process events such as the tragic massacre in Seal Beach ("Our angels are stronger than demons," On Faith, Oct. 19). Scott Dekraai, the alleged Seal Beach shooter, is a severely disturbed individual. The tragedy didn't have to happen. I suggest another practical approach that would tap into concrete responses by the angels: Many people in our society are suffering from real neurobiological disturbances, ranging from depression and other mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Question: Do Jews believe that Jesus did not perform the miracles the Bible claims He did? On the other hand, if Jews do believe Jesus performed miracles and healed hundreds of people, why don't they believe He is the Son of God? How could someone perform miracles and not be divine? — G., via godsquadquestion@aol.com Answer: I receive many versions of your question and they all focus on the same issues: 1. Jesus either did or did not perform miracles. 2. If he did perform miracles, Jews should become Christians.

I was really not very aware of cancer's reach until a friend contracted prostate cancer about 20 years ago. Soon after that, another friend was diagnosed with the same illness and, shortly thereafter, I awoke from a colonoscopy to learn that I had cancer. A year of chemotherapy followed that — along with family love, the care of a superb oncologist, Louis Vandermolen, a support group at Hoag Hospital, and a strong will to survive — completely cured me. All was well for 10 years until I received another grim diagnosis: prostate cancer of a quite virulent type.

I've reached that stage in life where almost everyone I meet looks like somebody I used to know. I'm getting old. Hedy and I recently returned from a Baltic cruise. We saw lots of doppelgängers aboard our cruise ship. It became a game. Someone would walk past our table, and I'd recite the name of the person I proposed to be his or her double. Hedy gave me a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, depending on how close my candidate came to "dead ringer" territory. At one point, we had lunch with a couple who resembled a pair of professors I knew when I was on staff at Orange Coast College.