When I watch things like this, I readily admit that I can't explain it. Yet, a quick Google search show me that Chloe is currently sitting at #17 on the popularity chart. This guy also looks to be about the same age as me, maybe a bit older which would put him as a kid in the 80s, right when Chloe was seeing a huge rise in popularity. Seriously it went from 0 in 1981 to #17 by 2015. I also know that there are a number of things that I equated to God when I was younger that were really my own very active imagination. Like the dream I had about going to heaven. Of course, I dreamed about heaven...we talked about it all the time. I also watched Strawberry Shortcake all the time, but never thought those berry-fueled dreams were God-inspired. What are the chances of a dude imagining he would have a daughter one day named Chloe and meeting a woman who also wanted a daughter named Chloe? Well, as improbable as it may be, it isn't impossible, which means that it is within the realm of possibility. (ie not supernatural) And what are the chances of them meeting a woman who wanted to name her daughter Chloe? Well, if we look at how popular that name was by the time they started the adoption process, I would say that there was a very good chance of running into someone who thought that was a good name.
For the faithful, that is just way too many coincidences and therefore there must be a deity involved. For me, coincidences are just coincidences. I mean, what were the chances that I would meet a man who shares my love of all things geeky, likes to cook, hates to argue, and wanted to adopt? Pretty high I think, considering I dated three other guys with similar traits. It didn't work out with those other guys for a variety of reasons (not ready to settle down, too constrained, long distance), but I do think that there are actually a lot of people I could make it work with. I'm glad I met my husband and he is awesome, but I don't believe our marriage was God-ordained. I didn't even believe that when I was a Christian as I had already shed the whole soul-mate thing from my beliefs. But there are people who have suggested that because my husband wanted to adopt or because we both love science fiction movies, God must have arranged our marriage. But let's leave all of that aside for a moment and address the real issue that this line of reasoning has for adoption. If you truly believe that it was God's plan for you to adopt a child, then it was also in God's plan for that child to lose their first family. It doesn't matter if you adopted the child on the day it was born, there is still some kind of loss for both the child and the biological parent. Even if these parents are fantastic, this child will spend a lifetime dealing with the fact that they are adopted. If all goes well, those thoughts and feelings will minimally impact them. But make no mistake, there will come a time in their life where they will struggle with what it means to be adopted. The Christian narrative goes one of two ways: 1) This was God's plan all along or 2) This wasn't God's perfect plan, but through his redemptive powers he made it good again. But this also implies that this god only does so for a select few. Since there are millions of orphans worldwide, one has to assume that this god is rather choosy in who he gives a Plan B to. For many orphans, particularly those in third-world countries, not being chosen by a god for a Plan B will subject them to a lifetime of poverty, misery, abuse, and early death. Both lines of reasoning are severely flawed as both mean that God orchestrated their orphandom, but a lot of Christians treat adoption like their sacred duty along with providing salvation, that it is a thought that is shoved away. My sister-in-law talks about how wrong the Plan B thing is, but then talks about God's sovereignty in her next post, which is just plain confusing from a theological perspective. I doubt there is much logic to it though as these theological quandries are really set up to make people feel better, not to make sense.
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AuthorThis is a personal, but secret, blog archiving my deconversion from a Christian to a non-believer. Archives
December 2020
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