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just to get started and so you can show me your skills with a reaction.
I'll give it my best, which isn't much.
1.
(a) I think "proof" amounts to subjectivity - i.e. what may be proof enough for one person may not be proof enough for another. I can name plenty of people who have proved the existence of God to others using arguments/evidences - Alvin Plantinga, C.S. Lewis, William Craig, Richard Swinburne, JP Holding, McDonald, etc. So, it really amounts to how much proof is needed for a particular individual. It also depends on the emotional state of the person (very important). A person who has just experienced something terrible might have a closed mind and heart to any God, which might lead me to believe no argument will ever (or maybe just temporally) be enough.
(b) I like the way you start your number (1) out: "I don't think it's likely that God exists". That seems to ring with some knowledge of epistemology, which is good. No man will be able to absolutely prove God either does or does not exist, for that's proving a universal. What we can do is examine the evidence (which is in abundance) and offer a conclusion based off of that evidence (it's reasonable that God exists even without evidence existing, though). That conclusion won't be absolute, but more along the lines of "more likely" or "less likely".
2.
Well, I don't believe condoms are evil LOL That's pretty radical, I agree. I don't like it that those in an authorative position use it to make such statements, which aren't true. It's reminiscient of Hitler claiming to be abiding by God's will by killing off Jews. That's radical, absurd, and just outright inhumane. All I can say is to judge whether or not the Bible makes such statements, which these individuals have a problem doing. Of course they have a problem doing it, because it makes no such statements.
3.
This isn't God's fault, but man's fault. I'm sure you're familiar with a writer by the name of Tolkien (creator of LOTR), well his best friend (the guy who converted him) gave an amazing defense to this. He said something along the lines of:
'It is men, not God who have produced racks, whips, prisons, slavery, guns, bayonets, and bombs; it is by human avarice or human stupidity... that we have poverty and overwork." (The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis, p. 86)
People love to blame bad things on someone else. This is evident throughout history - crusades, salem trials, 9/11, Hitler, etc. The cause is just really themselves.
4.
(a) My, we just met and you think I'm a boring person already.
Seriously, though, if you don't want to go to Heaven because of the possibility of boring people being there, then that's the joy of free will, I guess. Personally, if Heaven does exist, I can't wait to meet and talk to people like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (among others). I won't be bored at all.(b) How can you truly be in love with that significant other, if you don't want her anymore? I found the commandment very inviting even when I was an atheist. I knew that marriage is a very important step in life and requires time and thought to decide whether or not you truly love this other person enough to share your entire life with her. If you truly love a woman, you'll want to spend your entire life with her and her alone. God realizes the importance of this and put it into action.
That's why you have to really give it time and much thought. If you do, then you'll know for sure if that's the one. If you don't, then the situation more than likely won't turn out too well.
This isn't just a commandment from God. Society itself embraces this law. I think the reason so many people feel the need to be married to one person alone is because of the reasonableness of it.
May this be a fruitful discussion,
-Spawn
