[Mr 5 0]

Mercury:

Good post!

It may comfort you to know that millions of people have had similar thoughts, wondered about the same things and asked the same unanswerable questions over the centuries. I've been there too, and now you've joined the unending line of humanity who've taken the time and made the intellectual effort to look beyond themselves, beyond the petty concerns of everyday life; the wanting, the striving, the rushing around, and after considering the heavens and eveything we know about life based on science, have asked the ancient question; "Why"?

I won't attempt to offer you any real answer - my ego isn't that big - but (like you) I believe in God and I very much believe that He is very concerned with what His creation (mankind) does with what he has created for them.

I also believe in Free Will. The proposition that humans are given a conscience by the Creator (God) and know right from wrong. That we have the ability to choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing. I believe that actions have consequences and we are not shielded from those consequences by God, even when innocents suffer.

To use your World War Two example; For reasons based partly on greed and a sense of superiority, the Government of Japan choose to attack the United States at Pearl Harbor and we went to war with Japan and the Axis powers. Tens of thousands of people died and certainly not all were soldiers. Many 'innocent' civilians (women and children) died in the bombing of London by the Nazis, Dresden, Germany by the Engish and Americans and many other battle zones where civilians were centered in fairly large numbers.

In 1945, having defeated Nazi Germany and in order to finally end the war, President Truman choose to drop the Atom Bomb on Japan. He then asked for a Japanese surrender. Japan refused (they believed we only had one bomb - we had five). Truman ordered the second Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima and the Japan High Command surrendered. The rest is in the history books.

So, Japan attacked the U.S. and we had a World War and tens of thousands died. America used science to develop the Atom Bomb (one step ahead of Nazi Germany) and then used it to end the war by destroying the will of the Japanese to fight on by inflicting instant mass destruction upon them.
Many, many civilians died in that war, as they always do. The civilians in Japan that suffered from radiation poisoning as an aftermath of the Atomic Bomb died horrible deaths. I believe the dropping of the Atom Bomb was militarily justified, but the real point is that everyone involved suffered in that war. From the dead and maimed soldiers to the parents of those same soldiers, the women and children caught in the bombings and finally, the victims of the Atom Bomb in Japan in 1945. Japan's leaders, Germany's leaders and America's leaders all made decisions that ultimately affected millions of people in some way, mostly negative. Japan and Germany could have chosen not to attack the Allies. They didn't. Hundreds of thousands died.
Bad choices = bad consequences.

The Allies won the war and the world was a better place for that, but the war was won at a great cost. God did not bomb Pearl Harbor, he allowed the Japanese to do it and they, in turn suffered grave consequences which God also allowed. That is the reality of life. I don't 'blame' God for the actions of mankind. We enjoy Free Will.
If one smokes for fifty years and develops lung cancer as a result, is that the fault of the Creator? I think not.

If a person chooses to get drunk, then chooses to get behind the wheel and drive and as a result, hits another car and a child dies in the accident, who's fault is that?
If God spared the life of the victim, no matter how innocent, the drunken driver would have no consequences for his actions.
That would be nice, in a sense, but not reality.
I assume you grasp my point. Enough said on that.

Damian, I want to commend you for taking the time to consider the deeper meanings of life and to be brave enough to post them here for all to see.
That alone denotes a maturity and a trust in Mustang Works members (to not be ridiculed) that I admire. This kind of intellectual exercise combined with your sense of humor, love of cars and other interest is what goes into making a well-rounded, interesting person.

As for your future, well, no one can even guess at that but I believe that as you take the time and make the effort to grow as a person and seek the kind of girl who can share your dreams, appreciate you for the guy you are rather than the guy she wishes you were, your romantic future is probably quite positive. I wouldn't worry much about 'dying alone' at this point.

I can assure you that as you look up at the stars at night, somewhere out there is a girl doing the exact same thing, who is longing for a guy just like you to find her and love her, and she is aching to find that guy and then to love him back with all her might. It happens. I know.

She may not look exactly like what you imagined or be where you expected her to be, but she's there and you'll find each other. I believe that.

On that happy note, I'll close this message and thank you again for your post. Appreciated it.