I actually met god in a dark back corner of a busy street with the smelly stench of the city

First, Let me apologize if I came of strong. I have Asperger's disorder (absolutely not a justification for bad behavior), And sometimes forget that people who do not know me, Do not know my quirks. My initial comment regarding to discrediting yourself was meant in jest, A friendly ribbing to break the ice, But it did not come out as such, So I apologize. My attempt was and is to answer what you listed as your questions, Which I believe I did. Your new statement of discrediting God based on Genesis 1:26 to me does not prove the bible is discredited. As a little background, I was raised in a non-Trinitarian pseudo Christian cult (say that three times fast). After picking apart the faith's beliefs, I left that church, Becoming a very hard core atheist, Scoring a 7 on Dawkins' Scale. Not only was I an atheist, I was a militant one for much of my adulthood. I have only been a Christian for around four of my forty-two years, So I am pretty new at this whole Christianity thing. I will say that that atheists generally do score better than Christians on any test of the bible, So I do know somewhat of where you are coming from, As at one point I was there too. As I was at that point, I do believe that most atheists, Me included, Know the arguments you list above, And also know the answers to them. Like you, I loved to toy with them, Knowing that they would not have an answer as they had not read and studied their book. I am not saying I am "better, " and have "changed, " and "you can too, " but to say that I understand your questions and frustrations, And also the absolute fun of riling up Christians. I still have trouble not riling up Christians because it seriously fun and entertaining, Though I try to curtail this. The reason Genesis 1:26 does not bother me is that when becoming Christian, The first question I had to address is the question of the Trinity, As this concept was not only foreign to me, And also taught strongly against in my youth. In studying the subject, Some suggest that Genesis 1:26 is the first allusion to the eternal nature of the Trinity, Followed by the "Spirit of God" moving upon the deep. To me this answer is satisfactory, Maybe not to your liking, But it settles well with me. For dominion, I think that is a point of discussion. I could be intellectually lazy and ask you if viruses creep, But that would just be me being me. I would like to point out though that this dominion over things that creepeth upon the earth was prior to the fall, And that after the fall the serpent was cursed (traditionally thought of as a poisonous snake), And could now hurt man, Though man could hurt it in return as well. The curse for man was that the ground was cursed, Thorns and thistles would grow in the garden, And he would have to work to feed himself. The dominion was lost at the time of the fall, Though we do have quite a bit of dominion over the creatures around us, Unfortunate for them. For the next section, I am not quite sure how to address the insults other than to say that my initial response may have sounded condescending and snide, So I guess I deserve it. Maybe I will have to remove the belly button lint from between my brain and muffler. I know you will see this as a cop out answer, But I will state first that, As mentioned earlier, I am new to Christianity, So I do not have all of the answers, Though I do not think anyone believes they have all of the answers either. We are all on a journey and seeking truth. My cop out answer is something I have heard stated on a Christian radio program a few times. It is that the four most important words you (me) can learn is, "You are not God. " So regarding your question about if God said to kill a child, Would it be good, All I can say is that from my limited understanding it sounds wrong and I do not understand it, But that I am not God, And I do not see or know everything. For the record, I have read and/or listened to the bible many times, And from a number of translations. I have read it as an atheist for arguing points, As a cult member, And as a Christian, So I do believe I have a unique ability to see people's points regarding the bible, As I have studied it from three different points of view. For the record, As my education and intelligence have been questioned, I have an undergraduate and advanced degree from a research university, And was a participant on a research study comparing the validity between two IQ tests, One of the standard tests, And a new one. I scored a 164 on the traditional test, And I believe it was a 156 on the test being examined, I tend to choose the 164 due to pride, And that it is/was the typically accepted test. I am not trying to demonstrate pride, Only to say that I am not some uneducated yokel who made chose these irrational teachings as a youth, With no thought on my own. I do not know your educational background, Nor IQ, But to me this is not that relevant to the conversation. I have also worked in higher education for slightly over fifteen years now. I believe you indicate your frustration that God would not select you for heaven (not how you worded it) based on your lack of belief. Again, I am not God, So I do not know all the answers, But to me it would seem more unethical, And less loving, For a God to force you to spend an eternity in His presence when you make a choice to not only not believe in His existence, But to, In my mind, Be openly hostile to Him. I think I have responded to a lot of your questions within my two posts. Admittedly I, Did skip a few such as homosexuality, Which does seem important to you. I do not want to ignore an important point of debate, But I am admittedly not at this point equipped to debate this topic. I do know what is written in the bible, I also know the arguments "excuses" many Christians make for these teachings. I do not want to provide you a rote list of excuses, And I do not think you want that either. I also do not want you to think that I represent any Christian body, And instead am posting the thoughts of a recent convert to Christianity (for all of my posts). For disclosure, I plan on avoiding this question, And hope we can agree to this in mutual respect, Though if this truly is a major sticking point for you, I could possibly try to work out an answer that wasn't you (me) are not God. Thanks for the discussion, I have enjoyed it, Except when I realized that I had been offensive, That was not enjoyable, But other than that I have. Hopefully no second strike, And we can speak again, But if so, I guess this is good bye.