Barring any and all requests to bring dead loved ones back, if you could have one request granted by God, what would it be?

My request would be to have our companion animals live longer than they do, as 13-18 years doesn't seem long enough.

What's your request?

A cure for cancer for those under 80.

I would ask that all of the hungry people be fed.

The end of all wars and conflicts in the world.

All I can think of right now is that I'd wish that every human were given the knowledge (the real knowledge) that 'hate' is a choice and not just a fact of life.

Mine would be to end bigotry. I think if that bigotry were eliminated, then the world would be at ease...no wars, etc.

By not understanding someone's culture or heritage, it puts one on the defensive side, when it really shouldn't. When some is different from you, that is supposed to give opportunities to learn something new....not dislike or hate because someone is of a different race, creed or color than yourself.

Yep, I would ask that bigotry be taken away.


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Agnes (JTJ)

I would ask that everybody be born with exceptional wisdom, topped off with common sense. That wish alone would end wars, hunger, poverty and several kinds of assorted whining. It would also prevent people from racing up behind me in traffic at sixty miles an hour, only to screech to a stop an inch from my back bumper.

I would make everyone immune to illness and injury. We wouldn't be immortal, but never have to suffer the damage to our bodies and suffering that currently seem to happen so easily at any time.

I think something to do with crime. Perhaps let people know how it feels to be a victim of violent crime so they think twice before robbing or hurting anyone.

To have the endangered animals repopulated. It would be such a shame if we were to loose these animals for ever.

I'd like to go back in time and talk to a few of my ancestors, just to get to know them.

I would ask for world peace.

the end of heavy metal and emo music...hang on, did I just call it music...?

I have no idea. I guess I'd wish for world peace or something like that.

One of my friends listens to that type of...noise...constantly and I'm surprised she hasn't gone deaf yet!

Because I am wary of asking for the impossible, as I see it anyway, I should simply like to see the right of every human being in pain, suffering, to end their life as they wish, in tranquil surroundings and without fuss.

The end of ignorance.

Hmm. Well, if I'm asking God to grant this wish, I suppose there's no point to requesting an end to religion, which has caused such vast amounts of strife, pain, and inhumanity for so many centuries. I'm not convinced that the comfort it has also given some people has been any compensation.

I like ktstew's idea, except that a world full of exceptionally wise and sensible people might quickly become a little tedious.;) I'm tempted by stu's suggestion, but people die young of many diseases other than cancer.

So, I think I would take a leaf from garyfire's book and ask that a solid, high-quality education be made available to every child on the planet, regardless of sex, race, nationality, creed, or socioeconomic level. Education can help solve many problems, decrease the pernicious influence of religious findamentalism, instill some wisdom, and perhaps lead to medical breakthroughs. It's our best hope.

To be able to answer correctly any question I was asked.

Now that would really help in the Knockout competition!

It would really help in all the competitions I think.

Interesting and sensitive, heart-felt thread.

In thinking about some of the answers, it occurs to me that, if the wish was realized, catastrophe would result. By the way, this is not meant to trivialize or ridicule anyone's answer; I would have had the same replies to the question. I just want to look at some of the wishes from a different perspective.

What a horrific situation it would be if a cure for cancer was discovered. According to the World Health Organization, in the year 2000, 56 million people died of cancer world-wide. This total has increased in subsequent years. Imagine the affect on those in cancer research, hospitals/doctors, charities, funeral directors, farmers, housing, cemeteries, etc. if an extra 56 million souls remained among the living.

Feeding the hungry would create havoc. We can't feed the hungry now. It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, about 100 times as many as those who actually die from it each year reports the World Health Organization. Where would the land come from to grow the necessary crops to feed thee masses. The 56 million now healthy have turned it into strip malls and condos.

Providing a quality education has been a goal for years. According to the National Education Association, a historic turnover is taking place in the teaching profession. While student enrollments are rising rapidly, more than a million veteran teachers are nearing retirement. Experts predict that overall we will need more than 2 million new teachers in the next decade. Add to this current problem a dramatic increase in the now healthy and fed and crisis results.

It appears that I look at terminal illness and starvation as viable answers to our world problems. I guess I do, though I abhor the pain and suffering that has to be endured to 'thin the herd.' If there is a Supreme Being, I would implore it to employ more sensitivity with regard to these issues. After all, many of us have been taught that we are its children and were created in its image.

The moral to this situation I guess is to be careful what you wish for 'cause you just may get it.

I can answer that on two levels, firstly the key you mention is education. But not academic education, education as how to live and treat other people.

Firstly if you check any environmental site they have calculated there is already enough food and resources to go round for the whole world. It's just the combination of destroying it- the European Union alone destroy tons of food every year to keep prices high, and stealing it, many military and political leaders steal much of the charitable aid in the third world and also wars there stop food from being distributed. It exists alright but not shared evenly.

Secondly, the cancer. Unfortunately many cultures see the solution to poverty as producing children. That's like pouring petrol on a fire but unfortunately they overcompensate for every dead child with many that live and this is what is causing the need for natural disasters. If they could be educated to keep the population stable the whole problem of finding space and resources for the extra millions every year- it's rising at an exponential scale, would simply disappear after a few decades. Even if we stabilised at today's levels and found ways to get food to those that need it and stop governments wasting it you'd find many of the problems would be solved. Needing cancer and war to solve them is primitive and unnecessary, and caused by the primitive actions of the world leaders of all nations.

The opportunity for all to have the level of education that they wish.

I would hope that this would lead to the end if ignorance. I've always believed that ignorance is a choice in the western world, but others don't have a choice. I know that many people would still choose to remain ignorant, however, the rest of us may have a reasonable chance to demonstrate how great the world could be - Lead by example.