I agree with Thorne almost entirely, but I would prefer to think that a good Maths teacher would care little about whether the final answer was right, so long as the correct method was used to solve the problem, while a bad teacher wouldn't care about your understanding if you guessed the answer correctly.

I have always wondered why a god needs to be worshipped and praised. Does it make him feel good? Is there a heavenly opinion poll carrried out each week to see if Jehovah is more popular than Shiva, Vishnu, or Jupiter.

It also seems to me that a "jealous" god is probably also a very insecure god, and his motives are suspect, especially if he tries to "buy" adoration by promising one particular race of people preferential treatment over all others.

And why do we have to "deserve" salvation, when our imperfections are of his making? I am at a loss to understand why, if they prayed and studied, god would desert your 26 or 27 failed mathematicians in their moment of need. That certainly goes against what many Christian preachers suggest.


TYWD