[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I'm glad you posted because it gives me a chance to explain something about this thread. This thread was not intended to be a debate about the existence of God or the validity of religion.

The motivation for this thread was the fact that I heard the boy, from the story, being interviewed on the radio and the interview left me feeling skeptical. In other words, skeptical about the boy's story and the father's ability to sort things out based on what he said. That was my honest opinion, right or wrong.

I think there's some confusion here; there's a difference between faith in God and faith in the the author of the story. For example, whether or not one feels the story is accurate is independent of one's faith in God.

My lack of faith is in the people who tell these types of stories. I don't know them personally so I have no way of knowing whether they are being honest or accurate.

There have been highly respected ministers who have cheated those who believed in them. The one I'm thinking of is Jim Bakker (Remember Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker). They lost their TV ministry after a series of sex and money scandals. As I understand it, many of his followers were defrauded because they had faith in him as a man of God. He cheated his followers out of $158 million.

Excellent post. Thanks for the explanation.