Mega churches might be controlling and even manipulative, but God is neither. Many religions, not necessarily misrepresent God and His attributes. The God of the Bible actually is a parental figure. Jesus of Nazareth often referred to God as “Father.” However, because of the misrepresentation, people have a very wrong concept. God is a good, good, father-- perhaps unlike their own fathers. Briefly, God created Humanity with free will. Any parent knows that is a dangerous thing. Parents usually want the best for their children and sometimes even get children’s upbringing correct. After all, they are their offspring and generally, parents know what is best for them becoming responsible if not happy adults. Likewise and because we are made in God’s image He knows what is best for us and tries to guide us in the way we should go. However, like rebellious teenagers, people just don’t want to hear it.

I was agreeing totally with your essay until the claim of fetal stem cell use in developing Monoclonal Antibodies. I have made similar mistakes in my essays and have found the answer: double check your “facts.” People, rightly or wrongly, will react with “Liar. Liar. Pants on fire!” ignoring everything else you are trying to convey. (see, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/10/08/fact-check-trumps-antibody-therapy-not-made-fetal-stem-cells/5901542002/ )

Maybe you realize that I give people space for errors and try very hard to understand what they are saying, and I am writing as I read, but not to jump down your throat. I, too, have regularly felt I am just shouting into the wind. After all, who am I to tell people anything?

By the by, the quotes of Jesus, “Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,’” is out of place, because Jesus is slapping down the self-righteous religious leaders in a way way beyond their comprehension while calling people who know they themselves are sinners, and He is calling them to repentance. Remember, I agree with the concept Science is not the enemy of God… at least until it is presented as the alternative to and is the one true god. (I’ve written the same.)

I like most of what you have written. Then, you threw a slider. I asked myself, “Will she take correction as an insult?” You know that Jesus had little use for the learned teachers of the Law. So, you shouldn’t be relying on your intellectual prowess any more than the tripe coming from the many pulpits you refer to..

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. “For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c] (1 Corinthians 1:19, NIV)

Then there’s that little parable about eyes and specks and planks and the other one about strainers and gnats.