There is definitely no loving God. Fact.

Yes, jings it is a widely held belief

Getting rid of original sin
The only way a person can 'cleanse' their soul from sin is to:^

^accept that Christ's death on the cross atoned for this sin
accept that only God's grace can cure this sin
confess their sins and ask for forgiveness
be baptised^
Many churches accept that infants can be cleansed of original sin by being baptised soon after birth. The other elements required are carried out by adults on the baby's behalf during the ceremony

I am troubled by Christians like soon.

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/originalsin_1.shtml
It doesn't say that the baby has sinned does it?

There may, of course, be perfect beings who are truly good and never ever have a bad thought, post an unkind post and have never had even a passing evil thought about what they would like to do to the kinds of people mentioned in the OP who killed that little boy.

'Go figure' is not a nice phrase though.

Strange ideas some atheists have of Christians, and interesting some spend do much time thinking what the thoughts of Christians could be .

As I Christian i am not concerned about the thoughts of atheists or puzzle trying to work out why they are atheists, it's their choice and I respect it, no way do I consider them evil

I don't think about the afterlife and will I meet loved ones, for me it means I will be in the presence of Christ. I don't think about judgement or hell or will those who have done wrong will be on the slide to hell, I don't believe in hell and damnation anyway.

Some people attribute good fortune to a lucky charm do they not ?

Seems atheists are troubled by Christians though

I don't think sinful is always actually 'evil'.

That original sin thing is daft in itself. Who believes it these days?

Rose.... born with original sin? Really?? A baby has sinned when it is born, I fail to see how that can be.

Not many people have evil in them. That's not what original sin means.

And NannyGoat, for someone who proclaims to be so easy going and averse to conflict, your post would appear to be quite aggressive.

(was it meant to be ironic btw?)

By the way, I am an athiest, so I suppose to a believer of God, then I am evil, go figure
Where did I say I was a believer in God NannyGoat?

Logically and scientifically I cannot see how this can be.
However, indoctrination from an early age makes many of us just a little ambivalent - it is like having an insurance policy.

Rose..... I resent your remark that there is evil in all of us
NannyGoat if you are offended I am sorry, but I was taught that we were all born with original sin.

Some of us can overcome this better than others. Obviously you have been extremely successful - congratulations!

And?.........*Smileless"

In what way do you experience god's love when you pray?

Some people attribute good fortune to god, when actually it came from their own efforts, professional help, friends, rescuers or random chance etc. I often read tales of heroic rescues, where people have put their own lives on the line to save someone, then the saved person thanks god!!!! What about the bloody rescuers??? OK they usually thank them too, but really!!!

Rose..... I resent your remark that there is evil in all of us, I would consider myself pretty easy going and averse to conflict. By the way, I am an athiest, so I suppose to a believer of God, then I am evil, go figure

@durhamjen -Why do you associate testing of men's ideas and evil? Seeking the truth is not wicked, whereas propagating untruths often is.

When I pray Luckygirl

One would do.

But why, feetlebaum?

Man can be good. He does not need to test the ideas of other men and be evil.

I've experienced God's love in too many ways and too many times to put them all on here Luckygirl.

I like elephants too NfkDumpling.

At least you know where you stand with the Devil. He doesn't pretend to care about humanity. When he causes bad things to happen he doesn't hide behind ' human free will'.

Of course this is if, like God, he truly exists.

@durhamjen - Why is man always testing god? In fact man is always testing the claims that are made for a god or gods by other men/women.

For near two thousand years we have been propagandised with claims about God and 'Jesus' - none of which could ever be substantiated. For the past two or three hundred years, thinking people have been pushing back a little, that's all...

To any of the questions which trouble us there will be an answer that is simpler than the invention of supernatural forces... and 'Ockham's Razor' tells us that it is the least complicated answer that is most likely to be right! It boils down to probabilities and the probability of the existence of gods and/or goddesses does exist - but is vanishingly small.

If we don't know why we are here and the purpose of life then I don't think we can second guess why we have earthquakes etc. We are thinking from a human point of view with limited knowledge. Perhaps there isn't a God and it is just random. I can't see any 'facts' in it.
All the shades of grey are very difficult as to where a line would be drawn. We would all draw it at war -but that starts with people wanting power over others and being mean. At what point is God supposed to step in and say 'that use of power is for the good but that isn't' - or 'that meanness is justified but that isn't'?
I agree durhamjen - it is man causing all the wars, homelessness etc so we should be expecting man to stop it and do the humanitarian thing and not expect some higher being to change them and make them stop.

I heard an analogy I quite like. Scurrying ants feel the presence of an elephant nearby. They know there's something there but cannot understand what - it's beyond their understanding. The elephant may also realise there's something moving at his feet and may well try to avoid standing on them, but can't always avoid it.

(I realise some may object to God being compared to an elephant, but I
like elephants)