re: #300 irongrampa
Hey irongrampa - I’ve asked this question of a protestant minister (Lutheran) a Roman Catholic Priest and a Rabbi (Reform I think): if as the bible tells us, God is omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent, then why does he allow War and famine and illiteracy?
Interestingly enough, I got pretty much the SAME ANSWER from each of them: God works in mysterious and Wondrous Ways.
I was much younger then and was TERRIBLY displeased with this answer.
Fast forward thirty some odd years and in Vietnam I saw things that I could not explain - some great things and some truly gruesome things. I spoke to a Chaplin (a Roman Catholic Priest) and described in very graphic detail some of those things that I had seen (and done) and asked him the same question and his answer was:”God works in Mysterious and Wondrous ways.”

At that time that did make sense to me, because I could think of no other answer which would fit with all that I had learned to that date.
While I truly detest the “competitive nature” of all religions (“choose us or you’ll go to hell” type of stuff) I think it’s true that there are some things that man alone cannot or at least has not explained and perhaps there lies the hand of God.