Thank you for taking the time to read and respond. I don’t believe the old testament gave us sexism, genocide, racism and slavery. I believe the old testament describes God’s interaction with a flawed human race that embraced those things at the time and recorded it within the cultural context of the time.
And as I said in the article, Christian faith shouldn’t be premised on how Christians have interpreted or misinterpreted Jesus’s life and words. Rather than giving us fear, Jesus gives us courage to face our fears by encouraging us not to worry and fret over things we can’t control. He made clear he didn’t come to condemn the world but rather to save the world. He also said all the laws of the prophets hinge on love: love of God and love of each other.
He doesn’t force us into belief, but works within our spirits, quietly and gently nudging us toward what is loving and what is true. We can resist, because we are blessed with free will, or we can try despite our inevitably flawed human nature to embrace God’s redeeming work in our lives. It’s up to us.
As for the starving children, suffering on this earth is probably one of the most difficult things to reconcile with a loving God. People have always suffered in this life, which to a Christian is a minute drop in the bucket of all eternity. If we believe that this life is all there is, then suffering is unfathomable. If we believe we are here for a purpose, and this earth is not all there is to life, then we take on a different perspective. If everyone lived according to the best of religion’s directives, there would be no starving children because there would be no corrupt governments, no selfish people withholding food or refusing to help others, and no lack of altruism. We bring on our own starving children crises through the poverty and corruption we allow to exist.
You raise interesting issues and I’d like to talk longer, but I’ve already gone on long enough. I wish you well, with many blessings, and I hope you direct your passion for truth and suffering in a positive direction that will ultimately head you to different spiritual conclusions.
