216.87.84.170 writes:

      The novel “The Sparrow” , Mary Doria Russell, looks at this question from a believer’s point of view. The book has
      been acclaimed as “important” and “profound”, adjectives that I would not apply to it. I found it a somewhat
      entertaining soft sci fi work that seemed to conclude that God exists but is merely an observer, else why is so much
      misery allowed to exist? My feeling is if believers have to continue to write book after book, debate incessantly, and
      fight war after war, just to try and figure out exactly what it is that God does, then God must be a pretty useless entity.
      I would say to them, there is no God, GET OVER IT!

      The reason for belief is suggested in the end of the book. Atheists are unhappy because they have no-one to blame for
      all the evil in the world. Believers have God to hate, thus they can be happy. There might be a shred of truth in this.

      The sparrow of the title is a biblical New Testamant reference, sorry can’t quote chapter and verse, to the effect that if
      a sparrow dies God observes and is sad, but doesn’t do anything about it. Presumably, for gospel believers, this
      should extrapolate to a case for God’s non-intervention in sports, or in any other areas.
 
       Roseweed on special dispensation 

      Mike