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And since He's God, if he chooses to permit a man to jump off the railroad platform, and allows the train to continue down the tracks until it hits the man and and splatters his vital bodily fluids all over the mud, even though that man jumped in front of the train on his own, God still did nothing to prevent it.

I don't think that anyone argues that God doesn't permit evil ... some of us just don't believe that He's really compelling the guy to jump in front of the train.

Live like a Calvinist for one day. (Please, spare us the jokes.) Every step you take, believe that God is lighting your path. Every act you undertake, believe God is guiding your hands. Every struggle you endure, trust that God has given it to you for your growth and His pleasure. And do all this believing every breath you take for 24 hours has been ordained by God to accomplish exactly His will.

I would wager that many of the evangelical christians on FR live almost exactly this way.

The only difference is that that when we give our fellow driver the finger for cutting us off ... we don't believe that it is God's will.

We believe that, rather, it is a failure on our part to conform to God's will.

Now, God's will will still, ultimately, be done ... He just needs to work on us some more.

Fifty-seven Calvinists on Free Republic will wager that you will feel happier. You will accomplish more. You will be more loving to your family and more gracious to strangers.

Well, if you ask me, the FR Calvinists need to work a bit on the graciousness part. I wouldn't think that taunting those who don't believe as you do is particularly gracious.