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I've been lurking through this thread since it was started and thought it is time I added my few bits to the whole thing. 
Firstly, to reply to Kia's question. The common reasons a believer in the one God, who is benevolent and omnipotent, believes your sister is not alive anymore is option 1 (ok maybe an exception to Christianity, as Psyco posted it is my understanding he believes it is option 3 as God could care less about your sister since she did not confess her 'sins' to Jesus  ).
The theological reasoning for this, is not that God gets a thrill out of watching little girls die, but simply that he is impatient (Usually that he wanted your sister up there with him in Heaven rather then down here on earth). Or on the other side of things that she had achieved her purpose on earth (some people believe you are here for a determine amount of time to do something... you know the ones who believe it is the soul and not the body.. the 'neo-spritualist'  ).
Secondly, there is something that I really do sit uneasy with regarding the whole God debate. The reason He did create humanity after all was to please himself -we must serve him and his will. The fanaticism of religion is the enslavement of the mind. The same mind God did not allow Adam to fill with Knowledge (which Adam did according to how it goes..) by eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge --the one which Satan tempted Adam to eat by promising eating the fruit will make him a God (This is an interesting mix to the story as although I do not believe in the story, I do believe we are becoming Gods).
I digress, but for those who have made of God quite merciless Milton wrote it best: 
Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n. (John Milton's Paradise Lost)
Thirdly, I will also congratulate Renegade on his interesting and thought provoking posts. Your theory to morality is quite interesting. You may not be to far off in your romanticizations of it either, there was one Psychologist who believed (I forgot his name, but hes in my Psych notebook if it is important for you I can look it up) that a part of the brain is devoted to the memories of your ancestors. So you might indeed have some recollections of your grand-grand-grand-grand-grandfathers experiences (maybe just one or two or something that stood out). From here he believed is where humans have the global archetypes common throughout humanity despite the different cultures (I don't remember what they were exactly, but the dragon was one of them I think, and identification of the good guy/bad guy sterotypes). Of course it would be hard to prove or disprove such a theory (just like God) but it is something that gets your mind sparked in a bit of curiosity none the less.
Fourthly, I personaly dislike the Christian religion the most as it has this underlying fundamentally to it that you must convert the whole population of the world to it (Islam has this to, but not so fanatically I believe). See the best thing the Christians got going for them in there quest to suppress.. umm convert... humanity is this argument:
Do you belive in hell? Ok no.. well say that there is a Hell and it is the worst thing possible, it is that image in your mind that you have come to known.. the flames, the constant agony and suffering.. the devil, the worst things absolutely imaginable happen to humans there. Just take a second and think of it, if you could do something to save another fellow human being from going to this unimaginable place would you do it?
Well there is away you can do it, and it does not take all that much from you.
You see there is this guy called Jesus and he died so you and other people don't need to go to that god-awful place.... all you have to do is love him (Jesus apparently had one of those psychological disorders where he had the unrealistic desire to have everyone on earth love him).
If you love Jesus with all your heart and confess to him, straight to heaven you go.. avoiding hell forever. And all you have to do to save other humans from going to Hell is just tell them to love Jesus too. (then the car salesman pitch) I mean what do you have to lose? Say I'm wrong and there is no hell... then what you don't go there. BUT what, say if for an odd coincidence I'm RIGHT?? then your doomed buddy! (there that's how they get you hocked)... Now all I need is a down payment and you probably want some insurance with that extended warranty too don't you?
Anyway, I hope I didn't convince any of you to be Christians as that was not my point, I am just showing you how easy their argument is to the simple minded. With that argument they get your hooked to their religion, from there they can say and do with your mind what they want.
Ok this is getting long, so LASTLY, an argument I've always used against the religious (yet it always seems to go over there heads leaving me disappointed) is this;
If you were to sin, commit a crime here on earth. Say you broke into a strangers house and stole $10,000 worth of stuff and killed someone in the process. Immediately after the crime(sin) what would be you first worry; Would it be 'Oh hell no I'm going to jail for the rest of my life.. what have I done!???', or would it be 'Oh hell no I'm going to hell for the rest of my life...'. If your seriously and genuinely answered the question you would come to the conclusion that people do not in fact fear the wrath of God upon their sins yet the social counterpart - the government. Only once you are rotting away in the Jails do you come to think, 'Oh hell, what is God gonna think?!'. It shows the hypocrisy that you are indeed first subordinate to your society, your government, and only then to your God. 
Yoepus
God has not been proven not to exist, therefore he must exist. 
Last edited by Yoepus on Jan-22-2002 at 04:25
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