Questions from Big ? Night, 10/13/10

These are in no order, but here are the questions we had from tonight. I always love these nights, and I hope they are as helpful to our students as they are fun for me. We didn't get to answer all of them, but we tried to get to as many as we could.
- Should you judge someone about what religion they have by their skin color or culture?
- Is alchemy a sin?
- How do you tell what to take literally or metaphorically in the Bible?
- Why do I get hurt and they get to be happy?
- Does everything truly happen for a reason?
- If Jesus died to forgive our sins how come we are still threatened to go to hell?
- You're being tortured by insurgents. Your only options are let them torture you to death and suicide. Is suicide then acceptable?
- If an abusive ex-boyfriend comes back in your life, should you forgive them?
- If God knows us before we are born and we are made on purpose, why are the people who have kids before marriage thought down on as if they are under par and less than others?
- Why does God make kids in families that just can't handle kids?
- Should we help people who don't help themselves? Like if the orphans and widows we are helping don't seem to become self supportive; when they have the ability should we still help them?
- I don't want to be. Why am I here?
- Why are Jesus' holy words often put in red in many Bibles? Why not purple or blue or green?
- In the Old Testament, there are various accounts of God turning people into pillars of salt. What did they do with the salt?
- Is having sex before marriage a sin?
- How did God let Adam name the animals but we still give them different names? Is that a sin because we're going against God's decision?
- How come God seems cranky in the Old Testament, but He seems super forgiving in the New Testament?
- If you commit suicide do you go straight to hell?
- How does God know what we are going to do before we do it because if he gives us two options or more to do the right or wrong thing and He knows which one we are going to do then why give us the choice?
- Is there such a thing as premarital sex if you don't plan on getting married?
- What is religion?
- Is it wrong to tell a friend that we think he is on the wrong path? Isn't that being judgmental?