Does God exist ?

by moomanchu 12 Replies latest social humour

• 

  moomanchu

  A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard
  trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good
  conversation. They talked about so many things and various
  subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the
  barber said: "I don't believe that God exists." "Why do you say
  that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the
  street to realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists,
  would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned
  children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor
  pain. I can't imagine a loving a God who would allow all of these
  things." The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond
  because he didn't want to start an argument. The barber finished
  his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and un-kept. The customer turned back and entered
  the barber shop again and he said to the barber: "You know what?
  Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised
  barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!"
  "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don't exist because if they
  did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed
  beards, like that man outside." "Ah, but barbers DO exist! What
  happens is, people do not come to me." "Exactly!"- affirmed the
  customer. "That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens,
  is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him.
  That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

  moo
• 

  DanTheMan

  So, people wouldn't suffer if they "came to God", just as the unkempt man would be all neat and trim if he would just go to the barber?

  Sorry, but what a tired and hollow analogy.
• 

  Elsewhere

  So the moral of the story is:

  A Barber is no different than an Invisible All Powerful, Omnipotent, Omniscient Creator of Everything.

  ALSO

  A Barber is no different than the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
• 

  Abaddon

  In other words, if bad things happen, it's your fault.

  Nice to know, thanks for the insight...
• 

  LtCmd.Lore

  "What happens,
  is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him.
  That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world. "

  So are you saying that everyone who suffers is simply a bad person? Also according to this logic, unless every god fearing person lives a good life, it would mean that god did a lousy job.

  However, if every singe person on earth had horrible hair, it may be logical to conclude that there are no barbers. Also barbers are neither invisible, nor do they claim to be all powerfull, with the ability to trim everyones hair at once, and promising them healthy hair for all eternity.

  Barbers can be seen, touched, heard, spoken to and they will respond, smelled and even tasted if you want to. God cannot be percieved by any sense. There is no indication that he has ever existed, any more than there is evidence that an invisible pink unicorn has ever existed. Any 'evidence' in gods favor can also be applied to the aforementioned unicorn.

  Sorry, but the story doesn't work.

  LtCmd.Lore
• 

  parakeet

  "people don't go to Him and do not look for Him.
  That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
  
  So the great, loving, all-powerful father's motto is: "If you don't come to me for help, then I wash my hands of you. Go crawl in a corner and die"??
  
  I saw a TV program a few days ago in which a mother regularly went out searching the streets for her drugged-out, prostitute daughter. She has more compassion than your version of god.
• 

  moshe

  Next time pick a better story to copy from the Internet. While one Christian felt about this story,- "This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen", I was not moved by it. I hate these contrived stories that are structured only to prove a predetermined outcome. They have no provable author, no reliable sources and people believe them without any verifiable witnesses. Hey, I've just described a Watchtower article!
• 

  IP_SEC

  Actually that story perfectly illustrates that we are god.

  Or after some more thought, it shows that god is created in our image, not the other way around.
• 

  JamesThomas

  When there is a building afire, and so an obvious need for help and assistance, a firefighter does not ask that the trapped and injured come to him or her, but rather rushes to the needy risking life and limb for total strangers.

  It would make more sense if the Christian god worshipped these people, rather than so many blindly worship a lesser god.

  j
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  That's the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens,
  is, people don't go to Him and do not look for Him.
  That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.

  Perhaps a year or more back, I was enjoying little analogies like
  this one at Assemblies of JW's. I do realize what's wrong with the
  analogy now.

  I was at a crisis in my life, I looked for God for the first time.
  My mother sent a couple of guys in clean suits with Bibles and a
  red book entitled "You Can Life Forever in Paradise on Earth."
  When I asked questions, the two guys had the answers. It took
  me over 7 years to start questioning those answers and another
  11 years as a spiritual leader in a congregation to finally do some-
  thing about my discomfort with the answers.

  How do you know the guy you go to is a true barber? Every corner
  has a barber shop, but at some places the people coming out seem
  satisfied with their hair. I can look at their hair. Some have styles
  that I would be satisfied with. I will try their barber. But wait, there's
  another barber whose customers look sharp, too. He charges a
  similar price, there's less waiting to get in his chair. Oh, there's
  another that's closer to home, and the barber next door to my
  office, I could pop in at lunch. The barber I choose does a good job
  but he only offers chit chat, not any deep conversations about
  politics or sports. My last barber loved to argue, I miss that.

  Now go back to God. There's churches on every corner in some towns.
  Many people seem happy with their church. Many offer similar services
  to their flocks, some have slight variants, others are radically different.
  Some churches (I neglect temples, mosques, etc.) have boring
  services and some have "fire and brimstone" speakers. The church I
  choose is convienient to my life or comfortable for my personality just
  like that barber.

  The comparison is not a fair one. There are many good barbers and
  some great ones. There are barbers for black people that really know
  how to do a fade, and others that can style straight hair better. But as
  far as God goes, I heard that there is only one true God. Where is that
  one? All those churches (and other types of places). All those happy
  people (they say they are happy, they smile when they leave.) I chose
  JW's because I needed answers to my questions, I needed a purpose in
  my life. What if I chose the wrong church, what if these people are
  really a cult, and controlled by men instead of God?

  People can't go to God if he allows them to go in the wrong direction. It's
  not like his house is the only barbershop in town. If he's there, and he
  wants my attention, he will figure out how to get it. Otherwise, I may
  just avoid religions from now on. Sorry for mixing the analogies together.