Ah, are you on some 'God works in mysterious ways' cop out?
No. I am pointing out that you are making a strong claim that God would act in certain ways.
God allegedly made man in his own image. I'm a man. If I want someone to know something, I tell them. Ergo, it's reasonable to assume God should tell people also.
I will put forward at least one example where humans do not use all their power to 'get a message across to someone'. I will not be doing this as an explanation for what God is doing. I use the example to point out that your proof is weak.
Earlier Stranger mentioned that God was omnipotent. Iow, he could get that information inside us regardless of any resistence or stupidity on our parts due to God's omnipotence.
In the context of the argument, which you took up, this assumes that God will always use all of his power to 'get information into people's minds (or hearts'.
I see examples around me where people do not do this. Sometimes they wait for others to arrive at conclusions after, for example, one stab at explaining to them. Sometimes they want the others to learn for themselves and feel miffed they can't get the obvious - I notice this pattern in marriages quite a lot. In teaching situations sometimes teachers present problem contexts or written out problems and do not explain how to get to the solution or even how to go about getting all the necessary information - this is very common in PBL, problem based learning.
I also know that I personally do not use all of my power and skills in all situations where I want other people would 'get' something.
Hence I see enough situations with humans, to be NOT SO SURE that God might have motivations or other wishes that mean that God does not use all of his omnipotence in all situations in relation to all specifics.
Notice very carefully what he said here:
Maybe I wasn't clear enough with my satire. If there is an omnipotent god who wants me to know it exists, it's not my responsibility. It's the god who should inform me. If it wants me to know what was originally written in the Holy Babble, it should inform me. Otherwise it doesn't want me to know.
(my emphasis) You are joining a line where he is making this case. This reminds me of many mundane situations where people believe it is someone else's responsibility to, as I said above in response to him, meet them the Whole way, rather than half way. I think many people refuse to do this. They often see the other person, in a wide variety of contexts, as being resistant and showing no willingness to go go half way. In these contexts people often do not use all of their power and skills to convince or explain to the other person. Even though they wish the other person could get it. (this is one possible analogy that opens the door to God not necessarily acting in the way you think God must. I actually believe there are other reasons involved, but they do not fit with a Christian context at all, me not being Christian.)
You seem sure that God must use all of his power in every situation. This is a strong claim to authority on your part. (Are you going to retract, by the way, your claims to authority over the meaning of the word 'atheist'? or, at least, admit that some of your claims about the history of the word's use were made up?)
