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Hard question January 5, 2026 · 1:00:07 · 12 min

The goldfish question resolved: they knew better

The room lands the goldfish question. Ben concedes Mike is right and his framing was too childish: humans have agency and moral accountability that goldfish and six-month-olds do not. God's anger in the prophets is aimed at people mistreating women, children, the poor, and the unfortunate for self-aggrandizement and demon worship - what other posture would Yahweh have? Mike offers the five-year-old analogy (spilling milk by accident versus throwing the glass at the wall), then tells the $200 story: a child who steals instead of asking ('I needed $200, so I stole it from a guy down the road'), then the childlike version ('I need dad's help. Hey, dad. I need $200. God's like, I know you need $200. I got $200'), which Dan picks up ('I love you. Out the door. Go'). The complaint line number (515) 517-0085 is given for listener crises of faith.

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