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Comment by humanrebar | Hacker News Reader

...it seems fair give a theist take on an agnostic or atheist thought.

People expect leaders that are:

* strong * fair * capable * intelligent * loyal * available * caring * personal * decisive * on top of things * courageous

People who believe in God see that as a list only God himself could check off. That means we have an innate desire for a leader with the qualities of God himself. To the extent that people try to find perfect leadership in imperfect men and ideas, they will be disappointed. Pick literally any names: Bush, Obama, Trump, Jobs, Gates, Musk -- even Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. King and Thomas Jefferson. So we become disappointed and move on to other people and concepts. Or we find God as He is, not just as we would imagine Him, and find peace in belonging to Him.

In a more personal take, I tend to be hard on my bosses and organizations; at times I have to remind myself to have reasonable expectations for human leaders.

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So where'd you find him, and why haven't you elected him president? You said he was available, right?

(Or maybe you forget "real" in you list of leadership qualities?)

What makes you think He isn't real?

What makes you think "He" is?

I was mainly pointing out that the presumption of a universe without any gods is just that, a presumption.

Anyway, on the off chance that you (or someone else) want a real answer:

* I decided to give God a shot and He proved himself. It's surprising the number of people that presume God doesn't exist without actually asking Him if He's there and if He cares.

* Christian theology makes a lot of sense. It provides for dignity and equality of all people. It provides for mercy and reconciliation and harmony. It provides for justice and protection of the downtrodden and wronged. It provides meaning for everyone regardless of ability or circumstances. It's simultaneously simple enough for anyone to grasp and deep enough to challenge our greatest minds.

Maybe that's not useful to you... here's a good talk Tim Keller gave at Google that can talk to it better than I can: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ

without actually asking Him if He's there and if He cares.

I'm curious. What does this response look like? I can't say I've ever seen anything which would seem to match this, and it's definitely a question I've wondered about when I was a kid falling out of a sense of faith.

Well, despite what some TV preachers will claim, God's not a genie that grants magic wishes if you pray right. And He's not an animal that does tricks on command. So it's hard for me to say exactly how he will respond if you (or anyone else) start asking Him about the big questions of life.

That being said, the Bible does say that if a son asks for bread, his father would not give him stones. So if someone asks God to make it clear that He exists and cares, God could literally start talking out loud if He felt that was best. But that's not typically my experience. Personally, I've heard God speak through feelings of conscience, relevant scriptures, wise words from godly people, a change in my heart over the course of a prayer, or serendipitous circumstances.

I'll be honest, it takes a certain level of trust in God for any of it to make sense. If someone approaches God with a sneer, I wouldn't count on God responding. If your child or SO spitefully challenged you to prove yourself, what would you do? That being said, God has a habit of going above and beyond for me.

Perhaps you should first articulate what you think makes something real or not.

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