# Just curious how drowning a bunch of kids can be considered God's will **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 15, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860 "2025-07-15T01:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/261 "2025-07-18T06:20:03Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I get it. I’d love to think an afterlife awaits me. Alas, this tiny speck of a life we have is all there is. I have thought about it and come to the conclusion that if there is an afterlife it won’t be like I’ve heard a lot of the faithful describe it, reunited with your family to sit at the feet of God worshiping him like a picnic that doesn’t end. It’s _forever_. Even if that means it’s only 1035 years the cosmologists say it will last if there’s proton decay, what happened in this tiny speck of life, your ancestors, your parents, your spouse, your children, your successors, will matter no more than what you had for lunch one Tuesday when you were four years old matters to you now. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/262 "2025-07-18T12:31:45Z")
Grilled cheese with Campbells tomato soup and that was heaven to me then! ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/263 "2025-07-18T22:41:47Z")
For those still following along … I just watched a 40-ish minute YouTube video: [**Can This Devout Christian Turn Texas Blue? (feat.Texas Rep. James Talarico) | Raging Moderates**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AFUSeE3ifU) The ‘Raging Moderates’ is a sub-pod of the [**Prof G Pod**](https://www.youtube.com/@TheProfGPod), and is hosted by [**Scott Galloway**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Galloway_(professor)) and [**Jessica Tarlov**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Tarlov). Rep. Talarico – IMHO – is the embodiment of Christianity in the very best sense of the word. Is he a politician? Sure. But he’s a devout (currently, a seminarian) Christian Democrat currently serving in the Texas Legislature and contemplating a run for the US Senate. I would back a guy like this _because of,_ not _in spite of_ his faith. The intersection of politics and religion has tended to be malign and corrupt. Talarico is one to watch … as is – IMHO – this podcast. Oh, and … @Ulfreida ? My considered sense of you is that you, too are a “Christian” in the very best sense of the word. You seem to sometimes take it upon yourself [invoking an analogy, here] to be among the last True Conservatives who feels inexplicably, if righteously, obligated to try to explain and defend MAGA. It strikes me as a very thankless job 😉 ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/264 "2025-07-18T23:32:38Z")
I like him a lot. So sensible. I’d have a heck of a time if I had to choose between him and Jeff Jackson for office. They both give me hope. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/265 "2025-08-20T20:29:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > If you think you fully understand Christianity, do some more thinking. Is your understanding of Christianity more valid than mine? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/266 "2025-08-23T13:14:11Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > If someone derives any joy from participating in religion, who am I to tell them they can’t? This is way late to the conversation, but yes, I, a serious atheist, actully enjoy participating in religion. I really love choral music, much choral music is religious. I love, for example, Handel’s Messiah & Zadok the Priest; J.S. Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring. So I sing for joy, not for worship. The music is beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/267 "2025-08-24T13:05:38Z")
Christianity is 2000 years old. And the religion it was a reform of, is another 2000 years of development behind that. It is the foundation of western culture. It encompasses most of what formed you. When I encounter an atheist who is not shallowly dismissive of this vast body of thought, I’ll take them seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/268 "2025-08-24T13:34:14Z")
Astrology is pretty damn old, too. How serious do you take those who dismiss it? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/269 "2025-08-24T13:48:08Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > When I encounter an atheist who is not shallowly dismissive of this vast body of thought, I’ll take them seriously. Can a Jew be dismissive of Christianity? Asking for a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/270 "2025-08-24T13:55:09Z")
Using that logic, being dismissive of Hinduism would be _really_ stupid, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/271 "2025-08-24T14:03:43Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > When I encounter an atheist who is not shallowly dismissive of this vast body of thought, I’ll take them seriously. Hello. Pleased to meet you. There are many like me, atheists who are just sensible about the “vast body of thought” and do not dismiss it out of hand. I revile religion, but I do not deny that religious people have made the vast majority of contributions to science, art, philosophy, etc. I love christian church music, for example. I can do that as an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/272 "2025-08-24T14:06:34Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Christianity is 2000 years old You would think that after 2000 years, self-described Christians would finally agree on just what they believe. Yet there are still over 40,000 denominations of Christianity. Which one is the true Christian faith? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/273 "2025-08-24T14:11:18Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Yet there are still over 40,000 denominations of Christianity. And more coming all the time. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/274 "2025-08-24T14:12:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And more coming all the time. SPLITTER!! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/275 "2025-08-24T14:16:16Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Christianity is 2000 years old. And the religion it was a reform of, is another 2000 years of development behind that. At least you didn’t use the term “Judeo-Christian history”, a term used almost exclusively by those of the Christian persuasion. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/276 "2025-08-24T14:36:36Z")
I love Christian cinema. I could watch it for minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/277 "2025-08-24T14:51:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Which one is the true Christian faith? All of them/ Just ask them, they’ll tell you. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > who is not shallowly dismissive of this vast body of thought, I’ll take them seriously. There are thousands of years of study that humors control the body, that bloodletting is an effective cure for…just about anything, and that there are no such things as germs. Any 21st century doctor that doesn’t consider this history can’t be taken seriously,. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/278 "2025-08-24T17:02:20Z")
Well, if I was holding my breath waiting for an intelligent and educated response I would have died by now. Have fun. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/279 "2025-08-24T17:17:50Z")
Well, you’d have to provide something that merits an intelligent and educated response to get one. “Christianity is really old, and based off an older religion, so you shouldn’t dismiss it.” isn’t really one of those statements. The only response that merits is “People have made mistakes in the past, that doesn’t require me to repeat them or take their mistaken point of view seriously.” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/280 "2025-08-24T17:19:16Z")
What kind of intelligent response do you expect to “It’s really old, do it must be right, or at least respected.” Because that’s literally all you posted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860.md?page=15)