Alright so the title of this post doesn't seem to make any sense, but give me a paragraph or two and I will try to pull these disparate subjects together.
For those still "in", this week we studied the Interviews portion of the "Young People Ask-What Will I Do With My Life" video. The comments by these young people are predictable. They extol the value of prayer, daily bible reading, personal study, meeting attendance, field service, and reaching out for other privileges. Repeatedly they say that young people are to "trust in Jehovah" and he will provide. Need a job to keep you in the fulltime ministry? Don't worry-Jehovah will help you find it! Too shy to preach? No problem! Jehovah will give you courage. These youngsters seemed to wholeheartedly believe in a God who watches over them 24/7, cares about their every care-and as long as they stay faithful-will guide and direct them to success.
Interestingly, only a few hours before studying this material, I stumbled across this link:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/snake-bite-inland-taipan-boy-australia-151652685.html
A young boy in Australia was bitten by what is believed to be the world's deadliest snake. According to the Reuters report, a drop of this snake's venom is strong enough to kill 100 men. A drop. Making things worse, it is not the most cautious of all creatures, in fact the report describes its personality as "fierce".
If you are a believing Jehovah's Witness, you can draw no other conclusion than God purposely created this monster with both the ability and the inclination to kill. Of course, any attempt to explain what a snake like this is doing on a planet of the benevolent Jehovah's making, will yield nothing more than nonsensical mush. The snake needed the venom for protection! On a perfect earth, protection from what? This snake didn't become a killer until after the flood! But creation ended with Eve...so it had to be created "as is" long before the original sin, and it was created to kill.
Okay, so here's where I try to put this all together. Which is it? Loving, caring heavenly father-figure who watches over his young ones and the rest of us 24/7; or cruel, sadistic creator who purposely made killing machines to walk or slither amongst us, which maime or kill other young ones? The former is out of the question, but the later seems unthinkable as well. I would rather take my chances with heartless, unfeeling evolution than try to serve and please the maker of the inland taipan snake.