A) OK, I’m just going to concede the whole Donald Duck/Goofy thing :)
B) I think there are several reasons Obama “got President”. I don’t think as much of it had to do with Bush as people think, but that’s my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.
C) If you’d like for me to give more details on an answer, just ask. No need to jump to conclusions or put words in my mouth. I’ll break down this part into it’s individual parts.
1 - If my wife was getting ready to have a baby (I’m assuming you mean actually in labor) and the doctor comes to me with that situation, then I start asking questions. What exactly is the problem. What options have you explored. Exactly what is going to cause the death of one or the other. I’m not trying to avoid your question, but there’s really not enough information there for me to really give an intelligent answer. If you want to stick with the question as is, then I stick to my original answer…whichever it ends up being is the way it’s going to be. I realize that you want me to say, “Well, in that case, an abortion would be OK.“ But I’m not. See, my wife and I both know where we’re going when we die. So there’s nothing in death to fear. And, if it would happen to be the baby that died, then we have enough faith to believe that God will get us through it. Not necessarily that it was His will, but that His grace is sufficient. If left up to my wife, I’m certain she would say, “Let the baby live.“ That’s just the way she is.
2 - I never said that God wanted anyone to die. (Here comes another personal opinion) People are under the misunderstanding that since God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present, that He is also in complete control over every aspect of everything that happens in the world. I just don’t think that’s the case and my reasons for that are beyond the scope of this thread. I’d be happy to discuss it elsewhere. But I needed to make that point in order to make this statement. Things happen. There’s not “a reason” for every situation that comes up.
3 - How in the world do you go from “God wants them to die, but maybe He’s giving you the choice, so you must want them to die?“ That’s like saying “I have a dog, I asked my neighbor if he liked dogs and he said ‘They’re OK, I guess,‘ so he must want to kill my dog.“ I just don’t understand your logic, that’s all.
D) I’m sorry, which part is a fact? I’m just not sure what you’re agreeing with.
E) I totally agree that children should be disciplined and that the lack thereof is a large part of our societal problems these days. But I wasn’t trying to make the point that children should be disciplined. I was making an analogy.
I’d just like to note here that it’s extremely difficult to express tone when writing. I never mean for any of my responses to come across as angry or hurtful or condescending. I know I have a tendency to get a bit “wordy” here and there. But it’s just an attempt to thoroughly explain my position; not in any way an attempt to brow beat someone or to make someone look foolish. I think if you look back through my posts, whenever I have misunderstood something or have been proven wrong, I try to be quick to thank the person for the clarification and to accept the fact that I was, indeed, wrong. At least that’s my goal.