My Response To My Dad's Response Part 2

If you haven't read part one, you should probably start by reading it here. I'm going to write the rest of this blog post as if I was replying to my dad, so don't confuse you as a whole with the you I'm refering to - my dad.

Thank you for aknowledging that I actually use my brain! ...or at least attempt to most days X3 Thinking truly is an art that needs to be mastered, is it not? Also, it's nice to know that you're open-minded. I am too, and I now know where I get it hehe

In this first quote you mentioned, yes it was from my friend and I'm glad you now know that. But I will give you my thoughts on her words: I don't have much room to argue. How can a God described by so many as a loving God, a perfect God, etc. be so malicious as to let things like children be murdered, let women get raped, or have gone so far as letting the holocaust even happen? It's part of where my "good guy God" belief comes into play for me: I think the Creator's heart is in a good place, but that if we have a Creator, that it makes mistakes just as we do. Some of these may result in things just that major in our lives. If not, then maybe they were just meant to happen to show us to love life more than we do. It could even be so odd [well I suppose I don't think it's odd...] an idea as karma following us from a past life. I can also say I believe everything happens for a reason, even if it does come down to us not knowing why.

I'll have to look into theodicy more, though I'm sure I'll come across it when I read Plato's works, which I definitely plan to.

This is meant for my friend. Skip the italics words if you want to get back to my response to my dad:
I'm not a furry for the reputation. I not into Yiff [furporn] - there's way too much of it too - and I have met some seriously weird furries that I can honestly say need some psyciatric help. You turn on the TV and most things about furries are on the show Strange Addictions when a furry was socially awkward and dealt with it by basically never taking off her fursuit; or on [I think it was] CSI on the episode where there was a backwards rapist guy who happened to be a furry as well. It all adds up to a VERY bad furry reputation. Hell, even my parents think it's weird. But I'm still a furry. Why? Because I like the art [which alone by definition makes me a furry], I like fursuits and even want one, the fandom itself and some of the good people you meet within it are fun and enjoyable, and I don't like the idea of hiding that simply because "the rep is bad." When you find the right people who are like you [who don't enjoy it for the negative things that the reputation is all about but the positive things like the art and fun you have within the fandom], it all seems worth it. So if you believe in God in a Christian way but don't call yourself Christian simply because "Christians have a bad rep" then maybe you should take a second look at yourself and your mindset and realize that maybe you're just not the same kind of Christian as your family or certain people you know. I know some very good Christians with beliefs that I almost believe in, just slightly disagree with. It's mostly where the heart lies that's important. I don't really know what to say from there except what my dad did: It's ok that you don't know if you believe in the same thing Christian's do, just find different reasons than reputation or other people.

I'll certainly have to look more into that when I find the time. It seems very interesting, and I'd like to hear both sides. For now though, I'll say this much: If the universe had a beginning, then I believe it was merely the beginning for this universe and that it'll eventually sometime be destroyed and rebuilt again in a cycle of neverending destruction and rebuilding. I'll look into the theories though and maybe come up with something different. I dunno lolz My mind is open to new ideas

It's something even I personally find a little odd to think, a little distasteful, and something I don't really like but it's something that I believe. I believe that "good" and "evil" are merely opinions by everyone, and that there isn't a set good or evil. Yes, there are "popular" goods and evils, such as the holocaust being considered one of the "popular" evils, and the Civil Rights Movement being considered a "popular" good. That's definitely poor word choice, but you at least understand what I'm trying to say. But the reason I believe this is because people like Hitler himself must have thought that he was doing something good. I'm not trying to defend him or anything, I highly disagree with what he did and I personally find it one of the evils, but hear me out for nothing more than the purposes of understanding what I'm having difficulty saying any other way: If Hitler was just power hungry, I'm not sure that the holocaust was the route he would have taken. Many power hungry people do crazy things that tend to negitively effect people, but nonetheless I don't see why searching for nothing but power would lead him to dedicate his life - even in prision, writing out all his plans, not knowing if he'd ever be able to lead a nation to do what the Nazis did - to getting rid of the Jews and certain others until he was left with the "perfect race." I do think that he honestly saw what he was doing as just and right, and there were people who followed him under that same belief. In fact there are people today who still believe in him. I'm do not. The vast majority of society will heavily, heavily agree with me. But how is it that he can see what he did as a "clensing" of the Earth, or a survival thing [Survival of the Fittest, is what I'm referring to] if evil and good are not an opinion? All Hitler and Holocaust references aside, what exactly is evil? Sure, you can point out things and tell me that they're evil, etc. but really, what is evil? And on top of that, what is good? Without the opinion and right to choose, but as a fact, what is good and what is evil, and how can I decifer between the two? I don't really like this arguement even if I do believe in it, however, so I think I'll move right along to my conclusion...

Ultimately, I don't know enough to argue much. I do have ideas about the world, however, such as the importance and beauty of Nature and how it deserves respect, that lead me to look at certain religions and spiritualities as closer to my heart than others. I try to take a little bit out of everything, however, and not to narrow myself down to one set idea about how life should be lived. I have my ideas, while other people have their own. I respect that, I like that, and I enjoy learning about that. Heck, there might not even be a Creator at all. In that case, most of this conversation could be almost null and void haha. But regardless, I don't see myself as "not caring" but as wondering, being curious, and kind of enjoying the mystery. Also, I don't like the idea of dying thinking I'll go to Heaven or Hell or Summerland or seeing nothing but blackness or whatever my beliefs may be, and then disappointed in the end when I'm proven wrong. I'll leave the sure-ness [?] of what's on the other side to the dead, thank you.

I don't mind boucing ideas of each other, as you said, however. Feel free to e-mail me randomly or just bring up the conversation. It's fun to do :3

Thanks for reading!