Consolation - I hope you will believe that I am asking not to be difficult, but because I really sincerely want to understand. Most of the time I thought I understood your point of view, even if I didn’t agree. But I am still scratching my head over this one. I can only see three basic possibilities.
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there is no designer, everything that exists is random and unguided processes, including the unfortunate human situation that we get sick and die. Life is meaningless.
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there is a designer, but the designer is either immoral, indifferent, or impersonal, and therefore the original design itself is imperfect and results in the unfortunate human situation (we get sick and die). Life is a cruel joke.
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there is a designer, the designer is moral and good, and therefore the original design was good (a designer who designed the possibility for someone to be born, experience only pain and suffering, and die could not be morally good). If we find ourselves now with a flawed design, it must be the result of some separation or conflict with a moral designer (i.e. the Fall in the theological terms). Life is still possible through a reconciliation with the designer.
I know where pizzagirl stands, but I had assumed by your comments in the thread that you were religious (without believing the bible to be infallible) and therefore would have identified with the third possibility. So I couldn’t account for your reaction to what I said. I really just want to understand.