Bella Boo

It's a good quote, but it's hardly a fair one. It isn't as though God is 'offended' at someone's lack of belief. It's not a matter of vanity, but of a rejection of nature. The harm is done to ourselves, not to God. God provides the parameters within which our denial of nature exists and ultimately ends up.

Undoubtedly Poor Analogy Forthcoming:

I gots three kids. They're my kids. I helped create them. I'm helping to raise them. I'm helping to create and raise three human children. This is their nature. My offspring (for better of worse), human children.

Down the line, according to theories popular in small but influential subsections of society (academia, psychology, etc.), my three kids could choose to deny their nature. They could insist that they are dogs. Or rabbits. Or fire engines. Doesn't matter. They could attempt - volitionally or subconsciously - to make this assertion as to their nature, despite the fact that it's not true. In the process of denying their nature, they deny me. Now, that stings of course, but it doesn't affect me beyond the emotional level of aching for someone I deeply love and care about who is hurting themselves by denying their nature.

In this particular analogy, society would happen to agree with me that their denial of their true nature is not only problematic, it's dangerously unhealthy to them. If they attempt to live like dogs, or rabbits, or fire engines, there would be serious repercussions to their well being. Society would tend to say that, for their own good, these human children who deny their nature - or have lost sight of their nature - need to be placed someplace where the damage they do to themselves can be limited. They will continue to suffer under their delusions, perhaps - they may consciously refuse treatment, medication, mirrors, anything that could help them understand their true nature. They could rail at the institution where they are placed, they could rail at society - they could even rail at me for having the audacity to claim that they are actually my children. But that doesn't change the nature of their condition, or the necessity for ensuring that they can't hurt themselves or others any worse.

Society - or at least influential subsections of it - doesn't agree that we are deluded if we deny our nature as creations, and assert that we magically appeared out of goo. That doesn't change our nature. That doesn't change the fact that God aches for us as His creations, and has done everything possible to create a means for us to 'see the light', and repudiate the delusion so many are caught up in.

Any help? This is off the top of my head and I'm sure you'll be able to point out some rather glaring inconsistencies.

But maybe not ;-)

I miss you, and hope you're doing great. Kick butt in Florida, if you're still there!