poor fellow. i think he's thought deeply about it. and ended up in the place most people who think deeply about it run into difficulties.
why does a benevolent god allow nasty things to happen?
there are many ways to turn at this particular junction. you can give up on god. you can say he gives people free choice. you can say this life is an illusion to test us.
or, apparently, you can say god is okay with rape.
and of course the bible seems to indicate much the same thing in places. this is why fundamentalism is so scary to many of us. it requires folks to believe in a society organised along bronze age lines. rape and pillage - we're good with that. racism - it's okay. slavery - not a problem. women as chattels - of course.
taken literally, the bible just isn't up to the task of managing the organisation of society in the twenty first century. and then, if you turn to the benevolent bits of jesus' teaching, love just isn't enough.
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