THE TRUTH ABOUT OTHER THINGS

When we were receiving God's message, certain topics that may be important to some readers were only touched on briefly. We include them here.

ABORTION. You may consider abortion to be a mortal sin, but is it not better than bringing a child into this world who is likely to starve to death, or cause others to do so? Every child is a blessing, but every fetus is not necessarily one, such as those conceived by incest or rape. Nature makes mistakes, and correcting one of those mistakes by aborting a fetus who would be born with a painful congenital disorder, or severe brain damage, is a responsible choice and not murder. In fact, abortion cannot be murder (except the so-called partial birth procedure) because a child does not exist until a soul enters his or her body at birth. That does not mean that God favors abortion, but She disfavors the abuse, neglect and/or malnourishment of unwanted children more. Abortion cannot be justified on the basis of the sex of the fetus, and is not a desirable substitute for contraception, which should be encouraged. However, it should not be prohibited before a fetus would be viable outside the mother, or when necessary to save the life of the mother. Otherwise, She was silent on the subject.

ALCOHOL. Alcohol has been a companion of humankind since the Stone Age. The earliest archeological evidence of fermented beverages dates to approximately 7000 B.C.E., but our ancestors were imbibing before then. The ancient Babylonians worshipped Siduri, goddess of wine and beer. While 'sisters of god' may not have been welcome in their taverns, offerings of wine and beer were certainly welcome in their temples. Psalm 104:14-15 praises God for giving us wine that "gladdens human hearts." The New Testament tells us that Jesus drank wine at the Last Supper and on other occasions. Further, the Pilgrims who settled Plymouth Bay Colony in 1620 C.E. referred to beer as a "good creature of God."

Alcoholism is an illness for which treatment should be sought, and both drunkeness and driving while intoxicated should be avoided. But moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages is a proper part of any celebration of Grace, though none shall be provided to minors. Furthermore, voluntary intoxication shall not be a valid excuse for the violation of God's Laws.

CONFESSION. Having not been raised Catholic, we had limited knowledge of confession (or the Sacrament of Penance), though Desmond did study the subject as part of his Pastoral Counseling curriculum. The Catholic Church deserves criticism for a number of things, including pedophile priests, bans on contraception, and various abuses of power by the Vatican throughout history. But confession is one thing that they pretty much got right.

Confession has been described as "low cost therapy" for dealing with guilt. It contributes to peace of the soul, which makes it easier to love (and forgive) your neighbors. It can also strengthen a person's willpower, and thereby make it easier to avoid future transgressions. Further, it is an important part of the process for purging vilons. Sincere regret is essential, however, as absolution is not available to those who merely seek a clean slate so that they can sin again. Moreover, there are sins like child abuse, rape and pedophilia that are punishable, but not forgivable. Those are sins against Grace itself. Although a person may avoid punishment in this lifetime, the soul will surely know it in the next.

HEAVEN AND HELL. It should come as no surprise to those who have read the preceding posts here that heaven and hell do not exist as actual places. Rather, we make our own heaven and hell on earth, both for ourselves and for others. There are certain events and conditions on earth that may constitute hell for those who experience them. Why such things happen will be discussed in the next chapter. And some may consider God's core as a heavenly place, but it's probably boring as hell.

MARRIAGE. Marriage is the formal union between two or more consenting parties for the purposes of mutual care and support, and for raising children. A contract for marriage of more than two persons shall require the consent of all of them, and all shall be at least age 18. Incestuous marriages are forbidden. Same-sex marriages are permissible.

Other than incestuous relationships, God does not care who humans choose to love, or to marry. Neither does She insist on sexual fidelity among the parties to a marriage. If the parties intend fidelity to be part of their contract, then their vows shall include "forsaking all others" or words to that effect. However, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that fidelity was intended in all marriages occurring before the parties became aware of this provision.

Next: Why Bad Things Happen