as Wolfgang says, Pascal's Wager (the notion that the 'safe' bet is to believe) has many problems. Pascal offers only 4 combinations of possibilities, saying that you risk a lot if you don't believe.....but there are many, many possible variations on how a god might work, if there, in fact, is one. So many people believe in so many variations of a Supreme Being, that being sure YOU have the right one is a tricky matter.

He might have a strange sense of humor, or he might not have even looked at this universe after 'creation', and just doesn't care. The idea that he concerns himself with "every fallen sparrow" ....or, as discussed, kids with birth defects, *IS* a highly debatable issue.

Saying that "They are created by God for reasons known only to him and we can only try to guess why." is really troubling for some of us.....a Creator who is that capricious with no explanation just leads to subjective speculation, and eventual integration of those speculations into various religious doctrines!!
   Some tell us it is a 'test', some say it is 'punishment'...some refuse to guess, but still accept.

I do know that when a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses came to my door and got pretty stubborn about reading me scripture to 'prove' their points, I finally startled them by saying that IF they were right about what Heaven was like, I didn't care to spend eternity in a place run with those rules by such a capricious God!.....I think they soon decided I was not likely to.

I do not KNOW what the 'truth' really is.....all I can do is respect others right to believe and act as they see fit, as long as it really doesn't directly affect me.....and if Jews feel the need to eat certain things and avoid others, that usually does NOT affect me. It confuses me, but no Rabbis have been knocking at my door telling me pork is bad, or that *I* should clean my dishes in a certain way.

I do have difficulties deciding what to comment on in public forums like this where generalized opinions about truth and morals and behavior and beliefs are posted.....I try to reserve comments to cases where it seems someone is suggesting that THEIR beliefs apply to ME.

Thus, this post.