Sorry LR - i've been trying to decide how i really want to respond. I can't respond with hard facts, as we all know. this is about faith. a choice. i realize that anyone who doesn't believe in A god will dismiss what i say, look for wholes in it, and some will choose to pick at my intelligence for believing in something they find ridiculous. I am not a theologian. I am answering some questions with the beliefs that are part of my personal faith. for those reason's i generally try to stay away from these discussions. i don't find much value in arguing over articles of faith. but...
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Here's problem #1 with the fairy scenario...She forgot to show me the outcomes, and since I am omnipotent I would already KNOW that if I chose free will, the little bastard would cheat on me, leave his underwear on the floor 12 inches from the laundry basket, and gamble our life savings away.
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it is an analogy, certainly not perfect... but before you get married you absolutely do know that your soon to be spouse will fail you. you may not know whether or not they will cheat, but you do know it is a possibility. you know for a fact that they will at some point lie, be unkind, be a slob, etc... you know this very well, but you probably choose to leave the choice to love you or not love you in his hands. that really isn't that different than what God has done with us. He knows we will fail him in some ways. He wants us to love and honor him. He wants the best for us. He allows us to make the choice to follow Him or follow our own path.
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If I was an all loving spouse, saying that I would love you no matter what, why would I send to to eternal damnation if you end up choosing to divorce me (which i knew you were going to do)?
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if your spouse has the choice to love you and honor you, but chooses to reject you - would you still welcome him with open arms? would you keep an open shelf in the closet for his things? would he still have access to your bed? If a person chooses to reject God throughout their life, why would we expect God to welcome them into His eternal kingdom - a kingdom that the individual has rejected?
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Sounds a bit vengeful to me. If God isn't vengeful or jealous, and is supposed to love us no matter what, why send us to hell if we choose not to believe in him/break his rules?
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I don't feel it is vengeful, but i can understand your feeling on the issue. I do believe that God does love us all unconditionally. I believe that it troubles Him when we reject Him. "not a sparrow falls, without a tear from the One who made and put us here..." and all that. But He has given us the choice to accept Him and His gift to us, or reject Him and choose our own path.
as far as the "break his rules" part - We all break his rules. The most dedicated believer will sin. period. there isn't a measure of # of good deeds vs. # of bad deeds to get into heaven. it is an act of faith to 1) believe in God (a higher power than myself), 2) Believe that his Son died and rose again (to pay the wages of my sin), and 3) to accept this gift of redemption (acknowledge that I cannot buy or earn my way into His grace).
those are the requirements laid down in the New Testament. If you reject the Bible than none of this really matters to you. We as individuals have the freedom to accept these things through faith and believe them to be true - always knowing that we may be proven wrong in the end. We also have the freedom to choose our own path with the knowledge that we may be wrong in the end.
Again - this isn't meant to convince anyone of anything. I am not the answer man. This is my faith.